Desperate Measures
by Sevv
Summary: Two seemingly unrelated crimes occur on the same day, they promise to push the CSIs to their limits, will this bring the team closer together or split it beyond repair?  Set after About Face.  RaiN in later chapters.  R&R
1. Chapter 1

This is the first story I've uploaded, and to be honest the first piece of writing I've done in 2 years longer than about 2 lines which hasn't been copied from a textbook, so this first chapter is me finding my feet more than anything. I've planned it to be relatively long so will try to update it regularly. Please please please review, I would love feedback from anybody who reads :)

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><p><em>What the hell is wrong with me? <em>Ryan thought, sipping coffee absently. Here he was, sitting across the table from a beautiful, intelligent, and altogether lovely woman, and yet he couldn't seem to shift his thoughts from somebody else –

"Natalia," Molly was saying, jolting Ryan out of his head and back to the small cafe.

"Uh . . . What?" Ryan tried to remember what she had been talking about but drew a blank, feeling guilty it had been Natalia's name which had caught his attention.

"I was just saying how strong she must be, she took a lot of crap today . . . Why? Weren't you listening?" Molly frowned, playfully, Ryan hoped.

"You have the cutest mouth when you frown." He replied smoothly, sidestepping the question.

She smiled prettily, colour rising in her cheeks as she was caught off guard by the compliment. Ryan watched her, trying to remind himself how much he liked her. _You're an ungrateful bastard you know, you've spent all these weeks flirting with Molly, and now you're finally out together you spend the whole time thinking about Natalia._ He shook his head, as if trying to dislodge the thoughts inside. Natalia was just a friend, a friend who had had a rough day. He was entitled to wonder how she was feeling, what she was up to tonight; they were normal things for a friend to wonder.

So why did he feel so damn guilty?

A waiter appeared at the table to remove the two empty mugs.

"Do you want me to get the next round?" Molly asked, leaning over towards Ryan. She smelt nice, he noted.

He raised his eyebrows and handed the waiter a bill. "Get her whatever she wants. I'll have another coffee please." Molly smiled and placed her order, the waiter left.

"I was serious you know, I would have paid." She sounded sincere Ryan thought, though he still chuckled as he replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Just because you asked me out doesn't mean that I don't have to pay for it all. I'm lucky you just wanted to go for coffee," he joked. She flicked his hand playfully and then casually left her hand draped over his.

Ryan didn't say anything, but the fluttering in his stomach told him that he really didn't want to screw this up. He made a mental promise not to think about Natalia until he got home. She had barely spoken to him all day; she could cope without him for a couple more hours.

It was going on half 9 when Ryan and Molly finished their third drink and decided to call it a night. As Ryan drove back to Molly's place they talked and laughed like they had known each other ten times longer, and yet as soon as they pulled up on her drive and Ryan turned off the engine, they both fell silent.

Molly peered across in the fading light, her hair had fallen over her face and she looked suddenly shy.

"Thank you Ryan, I've had a lovely evening."

Ryan smiled back, "thanks for suggesting it. So, erm . . . am I supposed to walk you to your door?" His nerves showed only faintly in his voice.

"I guess." Molly winked at him as she climbed out of the car, and Ryan immediately followed.

He slipped his hand into hers as they made their way silently to her door, where she turned to face him. Ryan placed a hand on her cheek as his lips found hers in the darkness.

It was a short kiss but extremely pleasant.

"Night Molly." Ryan said, grinning rather breathlessly.

"Night," she echoed as she stepped inside, "and don't think this means you'll be getting your trace processed any faster," she laughed, before closing the door.

Ryan grinned all the way back to his car, but it was wiped from his face when he pulled his phone from his back pocket.

'You have 4 missed calls from Natalia,' it read.

"Oh shit." Ryan hit redial as he started the car and pulled into the road.

"Hey Ryan," came Natalia's voice, she sounded tired and upset.

"Hey Nat, what's up? Sorry I missed all your calls, I was out with . . ." he paused, "with a friend." He lied.

"Oh it was nothing, just wanted a chat." Ryan immediately caught the forced cheerfulness in her voice.

"Well I'm in the neighbourhood, fancy me swinging by?" It wasn't a question; Ryan had already begun the manoeuvre to change direction.

"No, you don't have to do that, what about your friend?"

"I dropped them off just now. And I insist, I'll be there in ten with pizza, kay?" Ryan pulled up outside the small complex of shops which housed the takeout pizza, as he said goodbye to Natalia. He wasn't quite sure why he had lied about taking Molly out; he just felt it would be easier. He had know since the failed Mexican wrestling date, oh so many years ago, that he never had a chance with Natalia; but some days that wasn't enough to stop him from hoping.

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><p>Next chapter has some more stuff going on don't worry :)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2 And We're Off

Ryan awoke the next morning with a dull headache. His eyes slowly focused on the room around him and he suddenly realised that he was lying on Natalia's sofa, covered in a huge purple duvet. He couldn't quite remember how he had ended up there.

Ryan shook off the last remnants of sleep and cast his mind back to the previous night. They had eaten pizza while Natalia had recounted her distressing day to him, then she had opened a bottle of wine and they had chatted through the night. Ryan and Natalia met up fairly regularly outside of work, but only very occasionally was it just the two of them, and never had either stayed at the others overnight.

He lay for a while, puzzling why that hadn't been the case this particular time, but his question was answered as soon as he sat up, along with why his memory was so hazy and why his head was still pounding painfully. Two bottles of red wine stood open and empty at the foot of the sofa, and Ryan realised he must have been way over the legal limit and crashed at Natalia's.

As he reached over to grab his discarded shirt from the floor, he heard the sound of running water from upstairs. By the time he had managed to tidy the room to the minimum his OCD allowed him to, the water had been turned off and Natalia appeared at the bottom of the stairs, fully clothed with not a hair out of place.

"Morning," she smiled, appearing like all her woes of the day before were forgotten, "coffee?"

Ryan nodded his enthusiasm. It hurt his head.

"I'm not surprised, only half of one of those bottles is mine." Natalia grinned over at him and bobbed her tongue out.

Ryan looked stricken. "I've not outstayed my welcome have I?" He asked anxiously.

Natalia started to laugh and her whole face seemed to light up. It sent tingles through Ryan but he wasn't sure why. And if he was, he wasn't ready to admit it to himself.

"It was me who made you cancel all your plans yesterday to come over," she reminded him, "seriously thank you Ryan; you did a great job of cheering me up."

_Anything to make you smile_, Ryan thought, but didn't dare voice. Instead he opened his mouth to tell her how few plans he had had for the evening anyway but her cell started to ring, making them both jump.

Natalia glanced down at the caller ID and frowned. "It's Horatio."

"Morning," she answered cheerfully.

"Oh, okay." Ryan watched as she listened to the receiver for several moments.

"Yes that's not a problem; I'll be with you ASAP."

She removed the phone from her ear with a worried look, and turned to face Ryan. "Looks like it's chucking out time, Horatio wants me to meet him in the Everglades. It's not even 8 and the body count is already up to three."

Ryan sighed, today was supposed to be his first day off after a 12 day stint, but with a body count so high it wasn't hard to predict what was coming. Sure enough, only seconds after Natalia had hung up, Ryan's phone began to ring.

XXX

As was very often the case, Horatio had been the first of the day shift to arrive at the lab in the morning, and subsequently was the first to arrive on scene after dispatch called through to report the finding of three bodies deep in the Everglades.

He surveyed the damage from inside his Hummer. The main focal point was a large upturned van, black from soot and still smoking slightly. The patrol officers who had found the vehicle had called fire and rescue, who had put out the fire but were unable to save any of the passengers. From his vantage point Horatio could see two charred corpses, both several metres from the van, the third he assumed to be still inside, the driver. He glanced over at the clock on his dashboard; it was nearly half an hour since he had called Natalia and Ryan. He felt guilty for pulling his youngest CSI onto the case when he should be enjoying his day off, but Eric and Calleigh were both expected in court until mid afternoon to give evidence for a case they had dealt with several months ago.

Horatio stepped outside into the Miami sun and flicked open his signature sunglasses. He was immediately greeted by an officer who held up the yellow crime scene tape for him.

"Thank you, officer. What happened here?"

"We aren't really sure, Lieutenant," the officer sighed, "the car was up in flames when we first saw it, looked like an explosion maybe. Then we saw the two the bodies outside, and there's a third in the back of the van, fire and rescue said. But no driver as far as we can tell. The van's just been given the all clear; you arrived at a good time."

Behind him, Horatio heard the sound of tyres crunching up the dirt track. The Hummer came to a halt and Ryan appeared from the driver's side.

"Morning H."

"Good morning Mr Wolfe, you made good time."

"Yeah and he probably got caught by half the speed cameras in Miami," came Natalia's voice as she stepped out of the car from the passenger side, rolling her eyes.

Horatio shot the couple an amused smile, as if he knew something they didn't. He proceeded to fill them in on what few details he knew.

"So let me get this straight," Ryan said once he had finished, "this guy just drives to the middle of the Everglades, ditches his van and his passengers, and then it explodes killing all three passengers?"

"Coincidence?" Natalia asked, trying to cover all possibilities.

"No," Horatio replied, "murder."


	3. Chapter 3

This is a bit more of the crime than character moments, but I've tried to integrate a few. The crime(s) have got to carry the whole fic so I want to set them up properly :) I'd love some more reviews so I know what people think, and I'm sure there are millions of improvements I can make. So please review even if it's only a sentance :) enjoy.

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><p>Ryan and Natalia briefly examined all three bodies and found signs consistent with the theory they had been killed by the explosion. They would know more details at the post, and Dr Loman was on his way to pick up the bodies. All three of them were obviously female, but with the severity of the burns they had sustained, it was near impossible to guess an age. No ID had been found on the women, and so they were preparing to search the interior of the van.<p>

"What's bothering me, is that while two of these women were fleeing for their lives, one seemed content to lie in the back as she saw the vehicle about to go up in flames." Ryan commented.

"Yes Mr Wolfe, that does appear strange behaviour," Horatio frowned, "do we have an ignition source yet?"

"Not yet H, Natalia's just started to process the front seats. Hopefully we'll find some evidence of our mysterious driver there."

"Ryan, Horatio," Natalia's voice sounded from inside the upturned van, "I think I've got something."

She stepped away from the van, holding a small rectangle of what appeared to be plastic in a gloved hand.

"Is that a SIM card?" Ryan asked, straining to make out the object amidst the plastic which had fused to it during the explosion.

"It would certainly explain the blast." Horatio agreed.

Ryan poked his head into the van and bent down to examine the ceiling more closely. It was studded with small shards of metal. He eventually found what he was looking for, a tiny circuit board, similar to that of a cell phone but with a few small alterations.

"Huh, there's definitely evidence here to suggest the phone was used to make a bomb." Ryan commented, withdrawing from the van. He held up the circuit board. "It's been rigged."

"Right, Natalia I'd like you to take the SIM back to the lab and see if you can trace whoever sent the call." Horatio said.

"I'll get right on it." She replied, dropping the evidence into an envelope and making her way back to the Hummer Ryan had driven over.

As she reached the yellow crime tape she noticed two vehicles parking up, one a Hummer and the other a white van. Dr Loman appeared out of the van along with a pair of body haulers; he nodded once in acknowledgement, but seemed preoccupied.

"Morning BV." Walter greeted Natalia with a smile as he stepped down from his Hummer.

"Hey Walter, would you mind taking Ryan back to the lab when you go, I'm about to take the car he drove in."

"You guys shared a ride?" Walter raised his eyebrows and grinned.

"We got to the lab at the same time, it made sense." Natalia wasn't quite sure what was being hinted at.

"Okay sure," Walter surrendered, "yeah I'll look after Ryan for you."

Walter carried on grinning as he made his way over the where Horatio and Ryan were stood. He couldn't believe how two of the smartest people he knew could possibly be so dense.

"So what's the deal here?" He asked the pair, eyeing the burnt out wreck.

"Good morning Walter." Horatio said.

"Hey man." Ryan nodded, and began to fill Walter in on their crime scene.

Horatio's phone started to ring. "Gentlemen, I need to take this."

"Sure H." Replied Ryan, as Horatio stepped away and answered his call.

Ryan and Walter grabbed their crime kits and started to dust the interior of the vehicle for prints, any clues as to who was driving this van would be extremely useful as they had no leads as yet.

Dr Loman loaded the last of the bodies into his van and came over to talk to the CSIs. "I'll drop these back at the morgue but I'm afraid I won't be able to get them autopsied until this afternoon." He glanced down at his watch. "I'm running a tight schedule; I needed to pick up another body about ten minutes ago."

"Okay, just give us a ring at the lab when you start." Walter reassured.

"Yes indeed," he muttered, "well enjoy your crime scene." He said brightly before turning and walking back towards his van.

"Poor guy." Ryan laughed.

Walter and Ryan worked in silence for several minutes.

"No prints on the steering wheel, damn. Not even partials," Ryan sighed, "you getting much luck over there?"

"Got a hand print on the passenger door, let's hope it's not from one of our vics."

At that moment Horatio returned. "Gentlemen, I'm going to have to leave you now. We've got another body, witnesses report an animal attack. I'm going to get Calleigh and Eric to meet me once they have finished in court."

"Mmmm." Ryan grimaced.

"Natalia may call you soon if she gets a hit from the SIM, keep me informed."

"Will do H." Walter called as Horatio made his way over to his Hummer.

When Ryan turned back he was surprised to see a huge grin plastered over Walter's face.

"What's up? You get lucky last night or something?" Ryan asked playfully.

Walter's eyebrows shot up. "Well if I didn't it's nice to see _someone_ did."

"Ooh who?"

"Seriously man, you're wearing the exact same outfit as yesterday."

Ryan looked down with distaste; he was indeed still in the same clothes as he hadn't had time to pick up anymore after leaving Natalia's. He was sure he had a spare shirt in his locker which he was planning to put on as soon as he got to the lab.

Walter realised Ryan wasn't picking up his hinting and so he changed tack. "So, you and BV huh?"

"BV? You mean Natalia?," a confused look appeared on Ryan's face, "me and Natalia? You got it wrong Walter. Big time."

"Uh-huh." Was all Walter replied, bending back down to take another print.

"I'm serious; I went out with Molly last night."

"The new trace tech? She's cute. So tell me again, why did you stay at Natalia's if you had a date with Molly?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Walter." Ryan sighed heavily. He knew how the lab liked to gossip, and he really didn't want Molly to find out. Not that there was anything to find out, he'd crashed at a friend's place, no big deal right?

Somehow he was sure Molly wouldn't see it like that.

Somehow he didn't see it like that.

As Ryan was thinking of a way to casually shift the topic, something caught his eye. "Hey Walter take a look over here, notice anything strange?"

Walter turned to see Ryan crouched down by a heap of long grass which bordered the road.

"Aww did you see a furry animal?"

Ryan shot him an acidic look in reply.

Walter took another look. "Looks like there's been a disturbance in the grass recently." Sure enough the tallest pieces of grass were bent in odd directions, making it look like someone had forced their way through not too long ago.

Ryan grabbed his camera and took a few shots, before carefully brushing the grass aside. "I think I just found our detonator." He held up a small phone which had been smashed up and thrown into the grass.

"Yeah and look a few feet further," Walter said, stepping around Ryan and continuing down through the grass, "disturbance stops here . . . and then look."

"Tyre treads." Ryan's face lit up.

"Rookie mistake," Walter grinned, "they all make them."

"Right I'll call Nat and see if this phone called her SIM, and then I recon we can head back to the lab and deal with the rest of the vehicle in the basement."

"I'll measure the treads and meet you at the car. I'm driving," he held up a hand as Ryan started to protest, "your crazy driving scares the hell out of me."

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><p>Yes I know that RyanMolly is pretty much a hated pairing, and it might get worse before it gets better, but Ryan obviously does like her so it may take a while for him to see that he's obviously meant for Natalia. So there will be more RaiN later in the fic :)


	4. Chapter 4

Okay I've added in the Molly/Natalia scene and I hope you all enjoy it, I'm really pleased with how this chapter turned out, although it is much longer than I planned XD R&R as always :D

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><p>"Okay, I'll see you soon." Natalia replied as she pulled her cell away from her ear and hung up on Ryan. He had rung to confirm that the phone him and Walter had found had called her SIM earlier in the morning, and to let her know that they were heading back to the lab. Natalia checked the search she was running on the license plate and saw it had made little progress, so she sat back to wait. She smiled to herself as she thought back to the previous evening, she had called Ryan for a chat since she was feeling low and he always made her feel happy. But she had never expected him to turn up at her door with pizza and spend his evening listening to her endless monologue about her crappy day. He had claimed he was in the neighbourhood but Natalia had her suspicions. Ryan, from what she knew, didn't have much of a social life, and she found it easier to imagine him lounging around at home in sweats, beer in hand. The thought that he had gone all that way just for her made her melt inside.<p>

"Hey Natalia, is Ryan around?" Natalia looked up from her screen as a pretty blonde entered; it was Molly, the new trace tech. Natalia had only had a handful of encounters with her, and she seemed nice enough.

"No, he's been working a scene all morning but he's just called to say he's on his way back, need me to pass on a message?"

"Sure, can you tell him I found his card?" Molly held up Ryan's credit card and Natalia frowned.

"It's not like Ryan to lose . . . well, anything. He's usually so organised."

Molly blushed. "Erm, well I guess he was a little flustered at the time . . ." Her voice trailed off.

"Where did you find it?" Natalia asked, she had no idea as to what Molly might be referring to, and her confusion was plastered all over her face.

"It was on my doorstep," Molly's blush grew rosier and she continued hurriedly, "Ryan took me out last night; it must have fallen out when he walked me to my door."

Natalia's confusion turned immediately to surprise; Ryan hadn't mentioned his date to her at all. Why would he keep this from her? God knows she'd given him enough opportunity to tell her. Maybe they just weren't as close as she'd thought. She felt slightly let down, but there was another, darker emotion tugging at her which she refused to recognise.

There was no way she was jealous.

Jealous of Molly? She nearly laughed at the absurdity of it and dismissed the thought before it had even properly formed. Ryan was a good friend so she reasoned it was only natural for her to be a little overprotective. Jealous of Molly, what had she been thinking?

Natalia realised she had taken an abnormally long time to reply, and she decided that, while she and Ryan would definitely be having words, she would cover for him.

"Oh, all the way to your door?" She winked, not quite knowing why she was asking more on a topic she really didn't want to hear more about.

Molly smiled happily, taking Natalia's falseness as approval. She knew Ryan and Natalia were good friends, and for some reason she felt she needed the feisty brunette's blessing. "Yep, he's an excellent kisser; it was hard not to just invite him in." Molly indulged in some girly gossip.

"Hmmm." Natalia replied noncommittally, biting back her tongue from telling Molly all about Ryan's poor attempt to take her to that silly wrestling match. She didn't know where this sudden urge to bitch about Ryan had come from.

"Well, I should be getting back." Molly said cheerfully, sensing the chat was over.

"Yeah, sure." Was Natalia's reply, she had already zoned out of the conversation.

XXX

Eric and Calleigh had driven directly from the courthouse to the address Horatio had given them.

"Oh my god, would you look at all these houses?" Calleigh gasped as she peered out of the window. The road they were driving down was studded with huge mansions with driveways at least half a mile long. It was a secluded area of Miami, and housed some of its richest inhabitants. Needless to say, it was not an area of Miami either CSI had passed through before.

"Did H give us a name?" Eric asked, taking his eyes off the road to shoot a glance at the gorgeous blonde sitting beside him.

"Yes I've got it written down," she flipped open a small notebook, "the house belongs to a Mr Harper, first name Kris."

"Kris Harper?" Eric exclaimed.

"Do you know him?"

"Do I know him?" Eric scoffed. "Don't you?"

"Well obviously not, care to enlighten me?"

"He owns around half of Miami's exclusive clubs, that man rakes in millions every day."

"A club owner? Sounds suspicious." Calleigh rolled her eyes.

"Nah Cal, he's actually a really good guy," Eric laughed, "he holds at least one charity event every month, and he raises loads. He's really committed"

Eric turned into the driveway he was looking for and they were greeted by a huge white mansion.

Horatio was waiting for them. He was standing next to a tall man with floppy brown hair. As his two CSIs made their way over he motioned them aside.

"We don't have much of a crime scene, just a body. I'm going to go inside and talk to Mr Harper's daughter, she called in the crime."

"Okay H, have you spoken to Mr Harper yet?" Eric asked, obviously keen.

"Only briefly, see if you can find out any more from him. Calleigh I'd like you to examine the body, Tom should be along shortly but he's got a lot to do, so let's see what we can find out without him."

Horatio turned and walked towards the house. Eric and Calleigh smiled, their boss always excelled when there was a child involved in the case.

Calleigh headed toward the body, the victim was female and in her twenties. She had dark hair and tanned skin, possibly foreign. Beyond that it was hard to tell much more about her. Her body had been mangled beyond recognition, resembling more a bloody mess of flesh and bone than the once beautiful girl it had belonged to. Calleigh sighed, imagining the fear and pain this girl must have gone through. Then something caught her attention, there was a lot of blood around the body, but not nearly as much as she would have expected given the wounds. Almost like something had killed her before the animal attack.

"Yeah, it was my youngest who found her," Mr Harper was saying sadly, "poor kid."

"And was there anybody else around who may have witnessed anything?" Eric looked up at the size of the house. "Household staff perhaps?"

"No, we actually had to let all of our staff go a couple of months ago." The man let out another heavy sigh.

"Why was that?" Eric asked in confusion.

"My wife," Mr Harper replied, his eyes becoming moist, "she was diagnosed with cancer four months ago. We've flown in some of the best physicians and surgeons in the world to treat her, but it's just such an expensive treatment. We've had to take some desperate measures."

"I'm sorry."

The man's eyes became unfocused for a moment, and then he started to speak suddenly.

"Is she a student?"

"A student? At Dade U? What makes you ask?" Eric replied cautiously.

"Oh my god," Mr Harper's face paled, "is this my fault?"

"Uh, you're going to need to explain. What does her being a student have to do with this being your fault?"

"There's a load of student accommodation maybe three or so miles from here and sometimes the students try to cut through my grounds on their way to the beach, it's the quickest route." He explained. "Anyway a while back they trashed some of the statues we have on the grounds, so I got the dogs to deter them. We've kind of come to an arrangement since then, I keep the dogs inside on Friday and Saturday nights and let them pass through, after all I do remember what it's like to be young." He ran a hand through his hair.

"I see," Eric said after a short pause, "and you think she was trying to cut through?"

Mr Harper spread his fingers sadly and shrugged. "It's very possible." Was all he said.

"Eric," came Calleigh's voice suddenly, "I think our vic was shot."

Eric laughed nervously. "CSI Duquesne is our firearms expert, she sees bullets everywhere." He tried to explain as Mr Harper gave him a confused look.

"I'm being serious, look at this mark; it was certainly not made by dogs." Sure enough Eric bent down to see a small bullet wound, covered by flaps of torn skin. "Judging by the lack of blood coming from the wounds the dogs left, I'd say our vics heart stopped beating well before she was mauled. Eric, she was already dead."

XXX

Ryan and Walter parted ways as they reached the entrance to the lab. Walter was headed to the morgue to see if Dr Loman was back yet and whether he had made a start on their three vics.

"Call me if you find anything new, big guy." Ryan called cheerily.

"Watch who you're calling big guy." Walter threatened, before disappearing from view.

Ryan was on his way to find Natalia to show her the cell they had picked up. He hoped she'd gotten a hit from the license plate, because so far they had a grand total of zero suspects.

He found her staring blankly at a computer screen. "I brought you a present." He held out the evidence envelope containing the cell.

"You shouldn't have." Her voice was not playful in the slightest, it practically dripped acid and Ryan flinched visibly.

"What's up?" He asked, fearfully.

"Not much." Natalia's tone told the complete opposite story. "So . . . you and Molly huh?"

_Oh, that's what's up,_ Ryan thought.

"I don't get it Ryan, why did you lie to me?"

_Because there's a part of me that can't quite get over you!_ Ryan felt his face grow warm in embarrassment.

"I didn't think it was important." He cringed as the words came out. It had been important to him. It was the first date he had been on in a long time, with a woman he really liked.

"Well I think you should tell her you stayed at over at mine, it really was innocent but I don't think she'll see it that way if she hears about it from somebody else in the lab. I haven't said anything don't worry, but you know how these things have a way of getting out." Natalia relented, she wasn't quite sure why she felt so cross with him, and now that he stood in front of her all pink faced and adorable, she couldn't bring herself to shout at him.

Natalia caught herself. Had she just thought Ryan was cute? It fired her up all over again, but before she could launch into a rant about how Ryan should be honest with Molly, her screen began to flash.

"We've got a hit on the license plate." She spoke calmly, professional once more.

Ryan grabbed a chair next to her, she was probably right; he really should speak to Molly before someone else did.

"Alright, the plates are registered to a Mr Kris Harper. How do I know that name?"

"Hold on Nat, go back to the address," Natalia scrolled up, "dispatch called in a crime down there this morning, it's where H went." Ryan stood up and grabbed his cell.

"H it's Wolfe, we've got a couple more questions for Kris Harper."

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><p>I hope you caught the reference to the title in this chap, don't worry firing staff isn't the desperate measures of the title, but I quite liked how it fitted in XD also could somebody please tell me what the 'ai' in RaiN stands for XD because I've started to use it and I'm still not sure what it actually means :P<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

I apologise in advance for the lack of Ryan and this chapter, he's not in it as much as I'd have liked. But needs must XD He'll get lots of juicy story later I promise :) Thank you for keeping reading if you're still with me for chapter 5. I've still got lots to go XD

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><p>Eric and Calleigh stood in a shocked silence for several moments before they saw Horatio striding down the lawn in their direction.<p>

"Mr Harper, I need speak to my team."

"Yes sure Lieutenant, I'll be in my house with my daughter." Kris smiled at the team with sad eyes, before turning away.

"I've just received some new information from Mr Wolfe; the van used today to blow up three women was registered to Mr Harper."

Eric let out a low whistle. "This guy is getting more suspicious by the second. H look at the bullet wound our vic sustained. We won't know for sure until Dr Loman takes a look, but it seems this killed her before the dogs even got the chance."

"So she was shot to death? That would make the animal attack a cover up."

"It seems that way."

Calleigh had gone back to examining the wound while they were talking.

"The bullet entered at an odd angle, standard entry angles are about 88 degrees, nearly perpendicular. This bullet penetrated at only just 50."

"Hold on, are you saying the shooter was above her?" Eric frowned.

"It looks that way. I won't know for sure until we extract the bullet, but I have a feeling this is the work of a sniper rifle, which would put the distance travelled by the bullet at maybe 50ft." Calleigh stood up and stretched out an arm to indicate the path of the trajectory, "I'd guess it was fired at maybe 40ft above her, although that's open to speculation."

"A fourth storey? There can't be many houses nearby with that many floors. Maybe the student accommodation Mr Harper was talking about?"

"Eric, maybe not a fourth storey," Horatio was staring intently at the huge mansion, "maybe, the roof of a three storey building. Take a look."

The CSIs turned to look up at the house; sure enough there was a small alcove on the roof, accessible only from the third floor.

"I think it's time we spoke with Mr Harper again." He said.

XXX

Walter stood in the cool morgue. He had spied his three victims but was told that Dr Loman wasn't yet back. He shivered, the morgue always made him feel slightly on edge, although he would never admit it. Walter wrote a note for Dr Loman to give him a call when he started the autopsies and turned to leave. The case was running cold, and the bodies could hold a low of new leads. He headed back up to the lab, hoping that Ryan and Natalia were having more luck with the license plates.

As he was walking, he wondered idly whether his colleagues had felt this much frustration before Calleigh and Eric had gotten together. Walter knew he was probably oblivious to most of the drama that occurred in the lab, but in recent weeks, even he had begun to notice how glaringly obvious Ryan and Natalia's feelings for each other were. He was pretty sure they were the only two people in the lab who couldn't see how perfect they would be together. _Well maybe with the exception of Molly,_ Walter mused. He liked the cute new lab tech, but he felt slightly put out with Ryan for accepting the first offer he got. He supposed Ryan must not get many opportunities to get laid. Unlike himself. Girls always fawned over Walter. Or so he liked to think.

Walter stepped out of the lift and into the lab. He immediately saw Ryan and Natalia sitting in front of a computer in one of the large glass rooms. He smiled cheerfully as he entered.

"So what have you got for me?"

"We've got nothing man. We got a lead on the van but Horatio said he'll look into it." Ryan said. Natalia just sat there in stony silence.

"Look, Tom's not going to be back for a while yet, why don't you guys go and grab a coffee or something?"

Ryan looked questioningly at Natalia. He'd had a pretty full on morning, considering it was meant to be his day off; it would be a welcome break.

Natalia slowly shook her head. "Why don't you take Molly? I thought coffee dates were your thing." She rolled her eyes.

Walter noticed the bitterness in her voice instantly. He hoped Ryan would insist she go with him.

"Look Nat, I'm not sure what your problem is." He began.

"My problem? I don't have a problem." She snapped. Inside she could feel her anger begin to subside. She still wasn't sure exactly what it was about Ryan taking Molly out that she wasn't happy with. There was a lot of confusion in her emotions where Ryan was concerned. She had always thought of him as a close friend, but she had known he had had a crush on her for a long time. Maybe she was just jealous that he no longer had feelings for her. It didn't mean she liked him as anything more than a friend.

Or maybe it did.

Natalia's eyes softened as she decided to accept the offer. Maybe if she spoke to him, she could sort out her feelings.

"Well fine, I'll go find Molly. At least she treats me with respect." Ryan spat angrily. He turned and left her sitting there.

Natalia flinched at the outburst, slightly shocked. Ryan had never raised his voice to her before and guilt crashed down over her. She had no right to treat her friend the way she just did.

Walter stood in the corner of the room, almost as shocked as Natalia. He had no idea what had just happened, but he suspected it was the finale of a conversation which the two had been having before he arrived. He sighed; his matchmaking appeared to be having the complete opposite of the desired effect.

XXX

"You found my van?" Kris asked sharply.

"Mr Harper, three women were killed in it early this morning." Horatio told him. He and Eric were inside speaking to Kris while Calleigh was waiting outside for Dr Loman to collect the body.

The man's eyes opened widely and he looked suddenly flustered. "It was stolen off my driveway two days ago."

"Did you file a police report?" Eric asked.

"Yes, yes of course, but it hasn't been looked into yet."

"H I'll get someone back at the lab to check the system." Eric said in low voice as he stepped away to make the call.

"Also, we have reason to believe that the woman your daughter found was shot from your roof." Horatio continued.

Kris's face paled noticeably. "That's impossible," he declared, "My wife's room is the only way to access the alcove. Trust me, nobody would have gotten to it without my knowing."

"Well maybe you knew." Horatio said simply.

"He filed the report H, two days ago just like he said." Eric returned to the conversation.

"What I would like, is to take a look at this alcove." Horatio stated.

Kris looked shocked. "I'm sorry Lieutenant, but I can't have my wife find out about this, she's extremely ill. The added stress would severely affect her condition. I want to cooperate in the investigation, but I just can't allow you to go up there."

"It won't be difficult for us to get a warrant to search it you know." Eric pointed out.

"Then I suppose I'll have to get my lawyers involved." Kris passed a hand through his dark hair, his eyes were apologetic. "Oh, I got these for you," he handed over a case full of DVDs, "they're the CCTV videos from the driveway for the last week, I thought they might have the girl in them, and maybe you can find who stole the van while you're looking through."

"Thank you," Horatio accepted the DVDs, "We'll be in touch."

"Horatio it could take us ages to get a warrant if he spends as much on his lawyers as his doctors." Eric sighed as they walked back over to Calleigh.

"Yes, it could. We need to get these DVDs to the lab for examination. And then we'll have to think about other ways . . . to get in." Horatio had a glint in his eye as he unfolded his sunglasses and slid them on.

* * *

><p>Walter is such a fun character to write :P<p>

Also, the angle stuff was pretty hard to explain so I hope it makes sense, but it's all (mostly XD) true, it's a basic 5-4-3 triangle, so the actual angle is 53.1 I think.


	6. Chapter 6

The reviews I've had so far are lovely so thank you so much to everyone who's commented! If you haven't reviewed, you probably know what I'm going to ask you . . . please review :D haha. Anyway, enjoy chapter 6!

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><p>Molly had been having a busy and fairly stressful morning in trace. One of the older, but significantly less organised techs had lost her list of the samples she needed to run, and so she had spent the last few hours tearing about trying to check whether she'd done everything she was meant to.<p>

"Hey Molly." A voice spoke from behind her. She twirled round to see Ryan leaning casually on one of her tables. She drank up the sight of his bare, toned arms; before meeting his eyes and flashing a huge smile.

"Thank god Ryan, I was about to lose it in here." Ryan raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Techs." Molly felt that was an adequate answer.

Ryan laughed. "So fancy escaping the madness for a while? I was going to grab coffee and I wondered . . . ?" He left the question hanging.

It was Molly's turn to raise her eyebrows. "I'm sure coffee was my suggestion last night, you've got to come up with something better than that for a second date." She smiled, letting him know she was just joking.

"You're a tease." Ryan accused as her grabbed her hand and led her over to the lift. As he passed the room where Natalia and Walter stood, Ryan wrapped his arm around Molly's waist and pulled her close.

The pair walked from the lab to the small coffee shop which stood just across the road.

"Maybe we should bring some back to the lab," Ryan thought aloud, "save people from drinking that disgusting brown water they serve up there as coffee." He was specifically thinking of Natalia when he said this. Maybe if he bought her a huge creamy mocha, as was her favourite, this whole argument would blow over. Truth be told, Ryan had no clue why they were fighting, and he was starting to feel really awful for snapping at Natalia the way he had done. He wondered vaguely whether she was jealous of Molly, but the thought almost caused him to laugh out loud. There was absolutely no way a girl like Natalia would go for a guy like himself. _Wishful thinking._

"Good plan." Molly replied. Ryan watched her hair shimmer as it took on a golden hue in the bright midday sun. She really was beautiful he thought. Not for the first time, he wondered whether telling her about his stay at Natalia's really was such a good idea. Normally when it came to relationships he would have taken Natalia's advice immediately, but given that she was angry with him, maybe that wasn't the best course of action.

Ryan took a deep breath and made up his mind. Maybe Natalia's intentions weren't the best, but her reasoning was sound. If he was the one to tell Molly, she'd know it was just a one off, and totally innocent.

"Erm Molly, last night, well Natalia called me. Uh and she was, uh, having a pretty rough time. You know, because of the kidnapping and erm, all that stuff that went on yesterday." Ryan stumbled awkwardly over his words, hoping that Molly wouldn't notice. He risked a glance at her face, she was frowning, not angrily, just a little confused. "So I, uh, I went over to check on her. And we talked and I kind of ended up crashing at her place."

"Kind of?" Molly asked unhappily.

"I'-" Ryan spoke hurriedly, before he was cut off.

"Look Ryan, we've been on one date, if you want to stay over at your friend's house that's really none of my business," she sighed, "I should probably get back to the lab, maybe you can stop by later?" She flashed another smile, but it was small and made her look even more miserable.

"Molly wait," Ryan pleaded, "I only told you to be honest with you. You're a really great person and I really like you."

"But?" Molly asked.

"There is no but." Ryan said, confused.

Molly looked longingly at him. "I think you're great too, but I've heard stuff about you and Natalia. I'm not going to get hurt in the middle of you two."

Ryan started to laugh. "Me and Nat? That's crazy."

He almost believed it.

Molly did.

"Okay," she relented, "I'm sorry." She took his hand and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Ryan turned his head to face hers and in seconds the couple were kissing passionately against the wall of the coffee shop.

Several minutes (or maybe hours, for all Ryan knew) later, they broke apart and entered the coffee shop both a little pink faced.

XXX

Horatio and his team sat in one of the meeting rooms. Ryan was the only absent member and Walter had already explained where he was.

"Walter and Calleigh, I'd like you to observe the autopsies, there's a chance these cases are linked so I'd like both of you there."

"Okay." The two CSIs agreed.

"Walter did we get a hit on any of the prints you and Ryan took?"

"Nope," Walter sighed, "they weren't from our vics, but they aren't on any of our databases. All we can do is try and match them to our suspects. When we get some."

Horatio nodded, and continued. "Natalia I'd like you to find Dave and go through the security videos we were given from Mr Harper, specifically look for your van and anything which may be relevant to the woman who was shot there this morning."

"I'll get right on it." She replied.

"And Eric, there were some tyre treads found near the van, I'd like you to see if you can identify the vehicle."

"Sure H."

"Okay then. Keep me informed." Horatio told his team as they stood to leave.

Eric hung back as the room slowly cleared. "H, I've requested a warrant for the balcony, but that guy's lawyers are incredible. We're looking at perhaps a day minimum before we get it, and by then there will be no evidence left."

Horatio narrowed his eyes. "Let's see what turns up in the meantime Eric. All of our evidence on Mr Harper is circumstantial; if we find something more concrete we might be able to push the warrant."

XXX

Walter entered the morgue for the second time that day. This time however, there were four corpses lying out on palettes. Dr Loman was staring critically at one of the burnt corpses from the mornings van explosion.

"Hey Tom." Walter called cheerily.

The ME looked up excitedly. "I've only had a precursory glance at your bodies, but I can tell you one thing. They're all from Cuba."

"How can you tell?" Calleigh asked, surprised.

"Ahh, I was hoping you'd ask. It actually has nothing to do with my medical expertise." He walked over to the woman who was shot and turned over her left arm. "There." He said simply, pointing to a small mark on the wrist.

Calleigh grabbed a magnifying glass and examined it, then she handed it to Walter.

"Is this a tattoo?" Walter asked.

"It is indeed, of the Cuban flag." Tom replied.

Walter could just make out the blue and white stripes, covered on the left by a red triangle with a white star in its centre.

"It's less noticeable on your other bodies, due to the burns, but it's there alright. There's definitely a connection between these girls."

"Well that's useful to know." Calleigh commented.

"So shall I start with the two vics who died in the explosion?" Tom asked.

"Wait," Walter frowned, "what do you mean two?"

"Only two of your girls died from the explosion," Tom repeated, "the other was already dead."

* * *

><p>Lol thank you to google images for the Cuban flag XD Sorry to all RaiN fans (which I can now use guilt free because I know what it means :P) for keeping Ryan and Molly together a bit longer. I've realised now that when I cruelly split them up it's going to be really tough on poor Molly ): not looking forward to that particular scene. Ryan's not being mean, maybe a bit naive, but he really doesn't want to hurt anybody. Because he's a nice boy :3<p>

Also, how did our vic die! Shock horror! The rest of the autopsy will be in the next chap ;)


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, this is the second chapter I've posted today XD because I'm addicted to writing. I've also realised that the master story on my PC is 17 pages long, which is 6 pages longer than my GSCE english coursework on ballads XD which I wrote 2 years ago and is the longest thing I've ever written :P so I'm pretty pleased :) I've done loads of research for this chapter, took about an hour to find a website with tyre tread widths XD but they're all accurate I hope. Also unrelatedly, 7 is my favourite number!

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><p>Eric sat in one of the lab rooms studying the pictures of the tyre treads which Walter had taken. He had measured a wheel base of 2575mm, a front tyre tread width of 225mm and a back tyre tread width of 255mm. Eric flicked through a manual searching for a car matching all three specifications. Eventually he stumbled across one; it was the Lotus Evora, currently selling for around $75,000. Eric frowned; it was a pretty expensive car to be driving through the Everglades. He pulled up the notes he and Calleigh had taken earlier from Mr Harper, he had given them a list of the vehicles he owned but there was no mention of a Lotus. Sighing, Eric decided he'd have to take the long route. He looked up the nearest Lotus trader to Mr Harper and reached for his cell.<p>

XXX

Dr Loman had finished the autopsies of the two women who were killed by the explosion. They were still unsure about what had killed the third woman and Dr Loman was preparing a blood sample for further analysis.

"So how do you know she was already dead?" Walter asked.

"Okay well there's a couple of things, but the main one is her lungs," Tom said as he continued to work, "your other victims breathed in superheated air before they died and it practically cooked their lungs. She, on the other hand, didn't breath in anything. I would estimate she was dead maybe 12 hours before."

"What do you think happened to her?" Calleigh wondered.

"Well it's starting to look like it was a disease. Look at this rash on her arm; it's consistent with meningococcal septicaemia."

"Isn't that a form of meningitis?" Walter was shocked.

"Yep, it's blood poisoning from bacteria which live in the back of the nose and throat."

"Is it infectious?" Calleigh asked. Walter's eyes widened and he took and involuntary step backwards.

"Only from direct contact." Tom replied cheerfully.

"So if these girls were in the van for a decent length of time, the others might have it too?" She reasoned.

"That may be the case, the fatality rate is only about 10% though."

"Can I have blood samples from all three of the other girls and we can get them all tested. If it is meningitis then we might be able to tell how long our girls were together for."

Tom pointed to a test tube rack with three labelled blood samples, and deposited the last vial. "Way ahead of you." He grinned.

XXX

Ryan and Molly arrived back in the lab with a cardboard tray full of steaming coffee. Ryan deposited the tray in the break room with the note 'help yourself! R&M x' stuck to the front. Molly thanked Ryan for her brief rescue and then left to find out what else she had left to do. Ryan picked up the mocha he had bought for Natalia and wandered over to find her.

She was sitting with Dave, the A/V tech, watching CCTV footage. Ryan poked his head in.

"Nat, could I have a word?"

Natalia looked round and her face broke into a smile, Ryan supposed that meant they were back on speaking terms.

"Sure, call me if you find something Dave." She said as she stood and followed Ryan into the corridor.

"I bought you a better present." Ryan smiled, mimicking his words from earlier.

Natalia sniffed the contents of the polystyrene cup gingerly and took a sip. "Aww Ryan." Was all she said.

"Look I just wanted to apologise for snapping at you earlier, I was out of order."

Natalia shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I started it," she smiled ruefully, "can't we just forget about it?"

Ryan laughed. "Forget about what?" He joked.

Natalia smiled happily. "So fancy helping out with the CCTV footage from Mr Harper's place?"

"Sure."

The pair stood awkwardly together, both confused by the feelings they had for each other; both not ready to fully admit anything, even to themselves; and both absolutely convinced that the other would never feel the same way.

"Hey would you come and take a look at something for me?" Dave Benton's voice floated out into the corridor.

"Sure." Natalia nodded, going back to sit down; Ryan in tow.

"Oh hey Ryan," Dave said absently, "right watch this."

He hit play and on screen a middle aged couple entered the house.

"There's a lot more of that, Delko told me earlier that this guy hosts charity events, this must be one of them." Dave said, he froze the screen and pointed to the time in the bottom right corner. "This is at 21:24. Okay and look now at 00:46." He said as he skipped through the evening. The video now showed the same couple leaving the house with a young woman. "The same thing happens with one other couple, they enter just the two of them, but when they leave they've somehow gained a woman. Now I know the security footage only covers the driveway and the front door, but there is absolutely no sign of these women entering the house."

"None at all?" Ryan scoffed.

"This is only the second day's worth of CCTV, they don't come on the first day, so they must have been there already, or used a different entrance. Either way it seems kind of odd to me."

Ryan and Natalia frowned at each other.

"This looks an awful lot like human trafficking to me; I just wish we had someway to prove it. It'll be so easy for Mr Harper to talk his way out of it," she sighed, "I guess we better let Horatio know."

"I'll look through the rest and let you know if there's anything else." Dave called as the two CSIs turned to leave. "Hold on," he said when they were by the door, "there's another event on the fifth day." Ryan and Natalia stopped.

"Is it the same type of thing?" Ryan asked, looking slightly appalled.

Dave frowned as he forwarded through it. "No this one actually seems legit," he shrugged, "false alarm I guess."

XXX

Since Horatio had split his team up he had received only one new piece of disturbing information from Calleigh and Walter, who suspected that one of the girls died from meningitis before the explosion. The blood work was being processed now and Horatio was worried about what they would find. While they were there they had also told him that the girls IDs were still unknown, but they were almost sure they were Cuban.

"Hey H." Eric said, appearing at Horatio's door.

"Eric, what have you got for me?" Horatio asked expectantly.

"Well okay, the car from the Everglades is a Lotus Evora, so I called the dealer closest to our suspect and asked whether he had sold anything to Mr Harper. And he said yes, to a Daniel Harper. I did a couple of searches online and guess what? Daniel Harper manages a nightclub owned by his older brother, Kris."

"It's not looking good for him right about now." Horatio noted.

Eric nodded. "Unfortunately there's no way to prove that the Evora which left the treads belongs to Daniel Harper. The soil in the Everglades is the same as pretty much everywhere else in Miami, so we can't even put the car at the scene."

"Hmmm," Horatio agreed, "will you take another look at the phone found by the treads Eric, maybe now we've got some leads it'll be more useful."

"Alright H." As Eric turned to leave, Ryan and Natalia entered. Eric decided to hang around.

The pair quickly recounted what they knew from the CCTV, and Horatio's frown deepened the longer they spoke.

"Eric, didn't Mr Harper mention he had another charity event tomorrow evening?"

"Yeah." Eric replied.

"I wonder why he's upped his events to three a week."

"Wait H, the second charity event was two days ago, wasn't that when the van was reported missing?" Eric asked excitedly.

"It was indeed. I think," he spoke slowly, as if contemplating his next words, "I think we may just have found our way in."

* * *

><p>Ooooh I wonder what Horatio's plans are! (Well I already know, but I hope you are wondering!)<p>

Also this chapter was written kind of fast, so if there are any glaring grammatical errors me and my beta missed, please let me know :)


	8. Chapter 8

Short update I know, but if it got much longer I was afraid I'd give the game away XD Enjoy!

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><p>Horatio was sitting in his office with Ryan and Natalia. The late afternoon sun poured in through the window and everything it touched glowed. The lab was steadily emptying as most of the lab techs left for their homes. The hum of a hundred different machines continued quietly, only audible now the incessant chatter of the day had faded away. Horatio had asked his team to stay late, and he could see Walter, Eric and Calleigh sitting in the room opposite his own. He smiled, although they were still in the lab, they had officially finished their shifts and were chatting in low, relaxed tones.<p>

He turned back to the pair in front of him. "I want you to consider it," he said seriously, "I'll need an answer before half seven so I'll have time to get it signed off with my superiors."

Ryan and Natalia looked nervously at each other, and then back at their boss.

"Okay H." Ryan replied in a small voice.

Natalia looked surprised at Ryan's answer, but slowly nodded. "I suppose . . . " She trailed off, obviously uncomfortable.

Horatio smiled in gratitude, but it didn't touch his eyes. He knew what he was asking of his CSIs, and they were the two he least wanted to put in this position; unfortunately, they were the only ones suitable for the task.

Ryan stood; face downcast, and shuffled out of the room. Natalia followed, looking just as miserable.

The door to Horatio's room swung shut and he sighed heavily, almost hoping his CSIs would refuse. The team had gathered to share their findings two hours ago; Horatio had fervently hoped that they would find something which would render his plan unnecessary.

Walter informed the team they had just got the blood work back from their vics, and Dr Loman's suspicions had been confirmed, one of them had died from meningococcal septicaemia. He had also discovered the other two girls in the van had contracted the disease, indicating they had been kept together for a significant period of time. The woman found at Mr Harper's house was free of the disease, and other than the flag tattoo, there was nothing to suggest she had any connection to the other three. The team had pondered the relevance of the tattoo, but without context it was nearly impossible to figure out.

Calleigh had spoken next, she had spent some time in ballistics with the bullet Dr Loman had retrieved and found little. The bullet was 150 grain .30 calibre, and she suspected a Remington 700, a bolt action rifle. Unfortunately Mr Harper had no guns registered to his name and neither did his brother, making it hard to link him to the bullet.

Eric volunteered that the phone had yielded no new information; it had no prints and since it was 'pay as you go' there was no way to find who it belonged to.

Thoroughly discouraged, the team had spent the end of their shift looking back over all the information they had, but were unable to find any new connections.

That was when Horatio had called Ryan and Natalia in.

Now he could see them outside his room talking carefully, they wore worried expressions which mirrored his own.

"I don't want to go Ryan." She shook her head resolutely; her eyes were full of tears.

Ryan looked lost, he knew what he should do, but inside he was terrified. "Nat." He began, taking her hand in his own.

Natalia immediately pulled away from his grasp. "Don't Nat me!" Her voice rose in pitch. "No, no. Not after last time. Why can't he ask somebody else?"

"The briefing would take to long, this is our only shot. I won't let anything go wrong, I promise." Natalia's glistening eyes met Ryan's, she saw the sincerity behind his words but she knew it was a promise that would be out of his control.

She shut her eyes to stop the tears from spilling out, and left them shut for a long moment. When she finally drew in a deep breath and opened them, Ryan's face was mere inches from her own.

He jumped back looking mortified. "Uh, I thought you had something in your hair . . ." He lied turning an even brighter shade of crimson.

Natalia raised and eyebrow in confusion. Had Ryan been about to kiss her?

Ryan looked away, cursing himself for misreading the situation and for reacting that way after all he had said to Molly. Guilt rose up inside him, contending with the embarrassment.

A weird tension settled in the air; desperate to break the silence Natalia made up her mind.

"Okay I'll do it."

Ryan grinned wolfishly, blocking out what had just passed between them and praying silently that Natalia would do the same.

* * *

><p>Poor Ryan :O lol I'm so mean to him! Ahh dear :P<p>

Okay so I can see how many hits I've had for this story and it's quite a nice big number :) but I still only have 13 reveiws for it D:

So to coerce you to reveiw, I have an idea.

Do you want me to write a scene where Ryan is totally wasted? Because I think I can work it in in a couple of chaters time :) if the idea is well recieved :) so now that can be some incentive to reveiw . . . please :3 Haha.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey, this is a super long one to make up for the shortness of chapter 8 :)

It was all finished and beta'd yesterday but then I couldn't log in : That's twice it's happened since I've had my account . . . does it happen this often normally? I guess I'll see.

Also, while I'm ranting, I totally lost Horatio in this chapter so I'm not too pleased with it. I like Walter and Eric, but other than that I'm a bit unsure on how well it turned out. Lemme know what you think anyway. I can take brutal honesty :) always trying to improve!

* * *

><p>Horatio added his signature underneath Natalia's messy scrawl and Ryan's perfectly formed loops.<p>

"I suggest you inform the team." He indicated with his head to the room where Calleigh, Eric and Walter sat, chatting mildly. Horatio stood to get the operation signed off on. He was confident his superiors would see the necessity without feeling any of the guilt. They didn't know his team like he did, didn't know how much he was asking of them. _Needs must,_ Horatio thought.

Ryan and Natalia entered the room to hear Walter laughing loudly.

"It's not _that_ funny." Calleigh reprimanded, but she couldn't bite back her smile.

Eric looked at the pair and broke down into laughter nearly as loud as Walter's. This set Calleigh off and it was several minutes before the three had calmed down enough to talk.

"Fancy sharing it with us?" Natalia asked.

Calleigh bit her lip and Walter looked guiltily past the couple.

Eric shrugged. "It's nothing you don't already know." He shot Ryan an amused look. _Nice try,_ it said.

Realisation crashed over Ryan and his embarrassment nearly caused him to turn and flee. Instead he just stood there, like a deer in headlights, as a slow flush crept up his neck. The entire team had seen his faux pas, his disastrous attempt to kiss Natalia.

Calleigh, being the most perceptive – other than Natalia who was still trying to figure out what was going on – shot Walter and Eric a sharp look as she stood and wrapped an arm around Ryan and led him to a chair. Natalia also sat and Calleigh delivered them both steaming mugs of fresh coffee.

Ryan, overcome with humiliation sat quietly as Natalia started to speak.

"Okay I've got no idea what you guys are on about. Maybe you've had a stressful day," she shrugged, "Now can we please have an adult conversation?" She asked pointedly.

"Yeah, sorry." Eric apologised with mirth filled eyes.

Walter nodded, feeling slightly guilty for the obvious discomfort they had caused Ryan.

"Thank you." She quipped.

"What did Horatio say to you guys then?" Calleigh asked with concern.

"He wants us to attend Harper's next event."

There were gasps from Calleigh and Walter, and Eric let out a low whistle. Natalia nodded glumly.

"Since we were the only ones who haven't been in contact with him, there's no danger he'll recognise us." She said.

"Hold on, hold on. Aren't we forgetting somebody," Walter cried, "yours truly?"

"Well," Eric grinned roguishly, "you're not exactly discreet now are you?"

Walter pretended to pull a shocked face. "Oh I'll show you discreet." He threatened.

Calleigh saw straight to the core of the problem. "You don't want to do it, do you?" It was asked as a question, but it wasn't one. "Natalia if you don't want to go undercover again you don't have to. This guy will slip up eventually and we'll get him then. Everyone would understand, considering what happened to you last time." She smiled reassuringly.

Ryan, ever the touchy one, felt mightily offended by that. Last time he had been undercover he had been drugged and nearly drowned to death. Where was his sympathy?

Natalia pulled a face. "It's okay guys, we need to put a stop to this." Ryan was surprised by her answer; if she had any reservations concerning the assignment, she sure wasn't showing them now.

Horatio entered the room holding a small envelope. He deposited it on the table and slid it across to Ryan who opened it. Inside was a small invitation.

"Dave's been able to access the guest list remotely and he's added you and Natalia. That's your invitation you received last week. You regularly visit The Hideout, it's the club nearest to your home. There you met Daniel Harper, the manager, who secured you an invite to his brother's party." Horatio informed them.

"Erm Horatio," Natalia said as she read over Ryan's shoulder, "the invitation is addressed to Ryan and Natalia Judge."

"Yes." Horatio replied, matter of factly.

Eric hid a smirk behind his hand and Calleigh kicked him under the table.

"Let me get this straight, you married me and Ryan?" She sighed.

Horatio gave one of his rare smiles.

"All the couples from the CCTV seemed married," Walter chimed in, "it might be the only way to get him to deal with you."

"Indeed," Horatio agreed, "there are a few more things I need to mention. I can't give you a wire because it will almost certainly get picked up, so I want you to call me when you set off, when you arrive, and every twenty minutes after that. There won't be anything strange about a couple on their phones all night. Don't leave late, even if you don't find anything, when it gets to one I want you out of there." His voice was firm as he spoke.

"We'll stay late tomorrow to be on hand if anything . . ." Calleigh bit back her next words, 'goes wrong' and finished instead with, "happens." She volunteered for the rest of the team.

Natalia smiled in relief. "Thanks Calleigh."

"So, uh, what are we actually looking for?" Ryan spoke up for the first time, feeling like he'd asked a stupid question, but knowing it was one which needed to be answered.

"Well there's not a chance you'll make it to the balcony." Eric commented, taking Ryan seriously for once.

"No," Calleigh agreed, "from the blueprints of the house we've been able to find, it would seem the downstairs is given over to entertaining guests, the main living area is the second floor, and then the bedrooms are on the third. Hold on, I'll grab you a copy for you to study." She stood and disappeared into another adjoining room.

"Thank you," Horatio said as Calleigh set the blueprints down on the table, "take these and learn them. They could be invaluable."

"Do they have a basement?" Walter asked.

"Not that they've registered," Calleigh shrugged, "doesn't necessarily mean they don't though."

"Hmmm," Walter appeared thoughtful, before leaning over the table and pointing at several rooms, "so all these rooms are pretty unnoticeable, all away from the larger areas you'd expect would be used for a party. Pretty good places to hide things."

Ryan nodded. "I guess that's our starting place then."

"Be careful when you speak to Mr Harper, we don't know how he chooses his clients so be ambiguous with what you say to him. Then he can interpret as he expects." Horatio looked at Ryan and Natalia with a piercing gaze, it was essential that they understood how careful they needed be around this dangerous man.

"The party starts at eight, that gives us five hours." Natalia commented.

"I'd like you and Mr Wolfe to take tomorrow off to prepare. You'll need a vague back story incase anybody enquires and you'll need to spend the day acting like a normal couple. I doubt anybody will try to trace you, the guest list consists of over 200 names and most of those think they're just attending an innocent charity event. He has no real need to track any of the regular guests, only the ones he invited for . . . something else."

"But?" Ryan asked, sensing Horatio wasn't done yet.

"Since you two were a late addition and this man is obviously a psycho. . ." Eric started, knowing where Horatio was leading.

"We can't be too sure," Horatio smiled at Eric's perceptiveness, "I'd like you two to stay at Mr Wolfe's house tonight, just for appearances."

"What?" Natalia exclaimed before she could stop herself. Any other time, she wouldn't have had a problem with what Horatio was asking. Just last night it had happened of its own accord. _A lot has changed since last night though,_ she thought sadly.

The rest of the team were stunned into silence. Horatio noticed the sudden change in atmosphere and realised something must have happened which he was unaware of.

"Okay H." Ryan broke the silence with a weak voice.

Natalia flushed at her outburst. "Yeah that's, uh, that's fine."

"Good," Horatio considered his words carefully, "if there's a problem between you, let me know."

"No of course there isn't." Natalia reassured.

"Right, well make the most of the time you have. I'll be in touch tomorrow evening." Horatio stood to leave. He looked back and smiled proudly at his CSIs, it was the kind of smile a father would bestow upon his children.

XXX

Ryan made his way through the emptying parking lot deep in thought. He couldn't say he relished the idea of going undercover after what had happened last time, but he had grown more used to the idea and pushed his dread to the back of his mind, determined to enjoy his evening. Natalia had promised to be over at nine sharp, but he knew her too well. When Natalia said nine she meant ten. He chuckled softly. In many ways he saw Natalia as the complete opposite of himself, where she was untidy and slightly erratic, he was neat and organised to the point many people suspected he had OCD. Where she had a fiery temper, Ryan liked to think he was more reserved and in control of his emotions. However the main difference which Ryan knew would always put her out of his league, was that she was gorgeous and fun and kind. He would always be a science nerd who people made fun of. _C'mon Wolfe, self pity is very unbecoming,_ he silently berated himself, _you're just embarrassed you tried to kiss her and instead of making it right, you're making yourself into martyr. You have a good life and a beautiful girlfriend. SO STOP YOUR FUCKING WHINING! _Ryan grinned, he was starting to whine a little, he conceded.

He pulled his keys out of his pocket and remotely unlocked his car, it gave a little blip. Heading round to the drivers side he heard the sound of an engine rev. Turning to find the source of the noise, he saw Molly remove her keys and step out of her own car, parked next to Ryan's.

"Took your sweet time didn't you?" She asked archly.

"Woah, you're the one stalking me, alright." Ryan held up his hands in mock surrender.

Molly jabbed him in the ribs. "I've been here for two minutes, call it what you will, but I think you're flattering yourself to think that anybody would stalk you."

"What are you doing here so late?"

"Ugh, I've been swamped all day and then with one hour left of my shift, Travers suddenly appears with my list and said it must have gotten mixed up in his papers. So then I had about four samples left to run," she pulled a face, "so what's your excuse?"

"Strictly need to know." Ryan winked.

"Fine, like I cared," Molly laughed, "so I wondered if you had plans for tomorrow evening? Because there's this little fete thing going on near my house and I wondered if you fancied checking it out?"

Ryan pretended to consider it. "Do they sell candyfloss?"

"Oh hell yeah, the best goddam candyfloss in Miami," Molly enthused, "so do we have a date?"

"Call it what you will, but I think you're flattering yourself to think that anyone would date you." Ryan mimicked her words from earlier in a high pitched tone which sent Molly into a fit of giggles. "Yeah we got a date." He added in his most masculine tone.

"Great, when do you fancy picking me up? I think it opens at eight."

Ryan's face fell as his memory picked a fine time to inform him his plans for tomorrow night at eight. "Oh shit."

"What's up? Scared I'll whack more moles?" Molly laughed at her own joke.

"No . . . erm I'd love to go, but I have plans . . ." He trailed off, embarrassed by his lame excuse, but unwilling to say more about the operation he was involved in.

"Plans?"

"Yeah, it's kind of to do with the case today. I'm not sure how much I can tell you." Ryan's eyes were apologetic.

"Shoot." Molly rolled hear eyes, she was smart enough to know what that meant, and that Ryan probably had little choice in the matter. "Maybe some other time?" She asked tentatively.

Ryan grinned. "Sure."

"Okay, well be careful, you're not as tough as you think you are." She returned the grin.

"I'm pretty tough." Ryan frowned.

"Pretty touchy more like." Molly laughed and opened her car door before turning back and waking over to Ryan. "Too bad you're busy," she whispered, pressing her body against his, she kissed his neck suggestively before stepping away and waving as she climbed into her car. "See you round Officer Wolfe."

Molly blew a kiss out of her window and drove off, leaving Ryan standing with a goofy grin plastered over his face.

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><p>The name Judge is for my amazing beta ;)<p>

Also I watched 'Caged' and really wanted to do another quick Molly/Ryan scene. They're not such a bad couple. I wasn't ready to put Natalia and Ryan together yet anyways, so I figured it wouldn't hurt :) Next chapter had a little teaser in it, I'm off to start it now :D


	10. Chapter 10

Hope you like the teaser ;) This chapter is literally just RaiN, well . . . almost. And I'd like to dedicate it to bebobnidan and Gooniegirl3333 because a) they are RaiN fans and this is the first proper chapter I've written where it's been RaiNing and b) they review nearly every chapter I post and literally keep me posting XD so thankyou!

Soryy I reposted it, but there was a sentance where I had decided to miss out a couple of words XD and it made no sense. Nothing else has changed :)

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><p><em>Ryan shivered, everything around him seemed to be growing colder despite the warm blood pooling onto his hands, he wondered vaguely why it wasn't warming him up. His breaths were coming in quick, shallow gasps and he closed his eyes to try and calm himself. Two deep gashes stretched over his stomach and slowly his heart worked to drive all of his life out through them.<em>

_Somebody spoke to him but Ryan could hear little outside of his small, pain filled world._

_Bang._

_Ryan screamed as a feeling of ice slid into his right shoulder and began to spread out down his arm, causing it to fall away from where he was trying to stem the bleeding of his stomach wounds._

_He could see the darkness eating away the edges of his vision and fought harder to remain conscious. He knew what unconsciousness would mean for him. Death._

_Ryan could make out concerned face hovering somewhere above him, he recognised it, but his brain refused to supply him with a name. A hand reached out to him as another careered towards him. Ryan felt something plastic impact with his cheek and his head whipped backwards, hitting the wall behind him with a sickly crunch. Stars exploded over Ryan's vision and the darkness claimed him._

_Seconds later he slipped out of consciousness._

**The Previous Day**

Natalia drummed her keys on her kitchen table as she ran through a mental checklist of everything she needed to take to Ryan's. It was already just after ten, being an extra few minutes late wouldn't be a huge deal, she decided as she took the stairs two at a time. After throwing open her closet and distributing its contents at random around her bedroom, she eventually found the dress she was looking for. It was classy and understated, she thought, smiling fondly at her favourite item of clothing.

Finally sure she had everything she would need; Natalia hauled her bag into the passenger seat of her car and walked round to the driver's side.

Today had been a long day and Natalia privately admitted she had been looking forward to an evening alone to escape the madness of her job. _You need to talk to Ryan though_, a tiny voice dared to remind her.

"I'm not ready!" She snapped out loud. She didn't even know how she felt about him yet, so what was there to talk about?

_You _do_ know how you feel though . . ._ The small voice echoed in her mind.

Natalia slammed her door with unnecessary force and hit the accelerator. _He has a girlfriend. Even if you did have feelings for him, he's off limits Nat, _she sighed, that was true, _but he nearly kissed you today. He wanted to kiss you!_ Natalia had purposefully blanked that from her mind while she had been at work but now all the confusion she had bottled up came spilling over.

What was Ryan playing at? Trying to kiss her at work! He had a girlfriend for godsake. What did it mean? Did he have feelings for her too? Or had it simply been a mistake? What if he regretted it now? Natalia remembered his face as he had jumped away from her, he had definitely been embarrassed. But embarrassed he had been caught? Or embarrassed he had tried?

Natalia heaved another sigh and tried to block out the questions her mind was clamouring for her to answer. She pulled onto Ryan's road and wondered idly what might have happened had she not opened her eyes and Ryan had gone ahead and kissed her.

As she walked up to his door, Natalia's mouth parted on a slight 'o' as realisation hit. Friends did not wonder what it would feel like to be kissed by other friends.

The door opened and Ryan stood dressed in light fitting sweat pants. Natalia's eyes were immediately drawn to Ryan's naked torso and a small gasp emitted from her lips. She had seen his toned arms many times, but she had never imagined his body to be so perfect.

Natalia finally managed to avert her gaze and for the first time, noticed Ryan's hazel eyes were slightly unfocussed.

"Everything okay?" She asked, concern in her voice.

"Of course." Ryan gave a small laugh.

Natalia's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Ry, you've been drinking." It wasn't a question.

"You called me Ry." Ryan pointed out. Natalia blushed, Ryan always called her Nat, she was allowed to call him Ry if she wanted. "It's okay, it sounds nice." Ryan grinned, noticing her slow flush.

"Come on lets get you sobered up." Natalia grabbed Ryan by the arm and marched him inside.

"I'm fine." Ryan muttered, allowing himself to be towed by her.

"Oh wow it smells amazing in here, I thought you didn't cook?" Natalia asked.

"I don't usually, but I can if I need to." Ryan sounded defensive.

"Sit here, I'll get you some water." She stepped into the kitchen to find a glass and was amazed that Ryan's small table had been covered with a thin red cloth and set for two, a candle burned merrily in the centre. A bottle of Natalia's favourite red wine stood on the counter, it was nearly empty. She sighed, Ryan hardly ever drank, and now twice in a row?

"Ryan, what's this about?" She called.

"Dunno." She could practically hear his shrug.

"Haven't you eaten?" Natalia asked, noticing for the first time the simmering contents of a small wok.

"Not hungry."

"You made all this food and now you're not hungry?" Ryan was never normally this confusing.

He appeared at the doorway with his face bowed. "I was going to surprise you." He murmured softly.

Natalia's mouth fell open. "You did all of this, for me?"

Ryan nodded. "But it got to half ten and I thought you weren't going to show."

"So you downed nearly a whole bottle of wine? Seriously Ry, you're very thick for somebody so clever." She ranted, trying to ignore her guilt which told her she was as much to blame as the alcohol.

"Sorry Nat." His voice came out in a whisper and he looked small and lost.

Natalia closed the distance between them and enfolded him in a hug, trying to ignore his bare skin against her. "I'm not cross silly. Just a bit confused."

"Well you seemed so off with me today, so I figured you were having a hard time because of the kidnapping yesterday. I just wanted to cheer you up a bit."

"I'm sorry if I freaked you out."

"S'okay." Ryan felt the alcohol induced fuzziness begin to fade and he felt faintly stupid. He knew Natalia would be late but he wanted so much to give her a nice surprise that he'd tried to convince himself otherwise. Coupled with the alcohol he was drinking while cooking, he'd ended up feeling very sorry for himself by the time she did arrive over one and a half hours late.

"Well it still smells yummy, can we eat?" Natalia grinned.

"Yeah, I'm starving."

XXX

Ryan and Natalia lay curled up on his sofa after dinner, watching old reruns of Scrubs and chatting. It felt almost like none of the weirdness of the day had ever occurred.

"Oh my god, just tell her how you feel!" Natalia hurled a cushion at the screen after a will-they-won't-they moment between Elliot and JD.

"Natalia, I love you." Ryan didn't know where his words had come from, they were unplanned, and only after he had said them did he realise how true they were.

Natalia froze. Had she heard right?

"Ryan . . . ?" She turned slowly to face him.

_Oh shit_, Ryan swore in his mind. How did he manage to be so incredibly stupid? Natalia would probably avoid him like the plague forever if he didn't clear this up right now.

Ryan took a deep breath, look Natalia in the eyes, and lied to her. "As a friend, jeez," he rolled his eyes and playfully poked her, "don't get too much of a big head." He saw something flicker in her deep brown eyes, relief?

Ryan couldn't quite believe how much he loved this beautiful, strong woman sitting in front of him. It was easy to see how he had spent the past couple of years slowly falling for her. He remembered the huge crush he had had on her when she first joined the lab. He had thought he lost his feelings for her when she was outted as the mole, but slowly they had build up a strong friendship and his feelings just kept growing.

The realisation brought another emotion crashing down on Ryan, guilt. He had reassured Molly just that morning that he and Natalia were just friends. _Which is actually the truth, _he reminded himself, _she's never going to feel the same way, so you may as well just accept the woman you love as a friend. _Thinking of Molly confused Ryan, in his own way he loved her too, but it just couldn't compare to what he felt for Natalia.

"What's up Ry?" Natalia asked, breaking his deep thought.

"Nothing, I uh, I just realised something. It's not important."

Natalia shrugged. "It's kind of cold in here." She commented.

"I'll grab a blanket." Ryan smiled, disappearing off to his room.

She fidgeted on the sofa, trying to find a more comfortable position. Why did Ryan pick such a weird time to tell her what a good friend she was? It was a very strangely worded declaration, she mused. For a tiny and wonderful second, she had thought he actually meant those three words.

Ryan returned with the blanket and wrapped it round Natalia.

"Ry . . . did you seriously iron this blanked?" She asked, surprised though she knew she shouldn't be . . . after all this was Ryan.

"If I didn't it would be all creased up." He said with distaste.

Natalia finally shifted into a more comfortably position, snuggled up against Ryan.

Needless to say, he didn't agree that it was such a comfortable position. After several minutes Ryan found it hard to ignore the fact the Natalia's hand was rested on his inner thigh. It was very distracting and he fought hard to keep in control of himself. In the end he realised he was fighting a losing battle. Natalia shifted her hand slightly and a small moan escaped from his lips, causing him to bolt up off the sofa.

"Everything alright?" Natalia asked with an amused expression.

"Yes." Ryan replied shortly, still struggling to keep his arousal unnoticed by Natalia. He turned his back to her. "I think I'm going to go to bed now, its nearly one." He struggled to keep his voice even.

"Really? I didn't know it was so late. Where, erm, where did you want me to sleep?"

_With me!_ Ryan was scared by how close he'd come to saying that out loud.

"I've made up the spare bed for you." He replied instead. Ryan hardly ever used his guest room, the last time was maybe a year ago when he was looking after his niece and nephew while his brother was out of town.

"Okay, I'll come up with you." Natalia leaned across to flick off the TV.

She grabbed one of her bags and Ryan, ever the gentleman picked up the other and led her up the stairs. He opened a door and deposited Natalia's bag. She gasped.

"Ryan it looks like you run a hotel in here. I'm scared to touch anything."

"Don't worry, I don't mind tidying." He smiled, but Natalia still thought he looked awkward, like he was embarrassed about something. "Bathroom is this next door." He pointed.

"Thanks Ry," She gave him a quick embrace before stepping into the room, "goodnight."

Ryan stood for a moment, trying to regain his composure, the scent of Natalia's hair and the warmth of her body was intoxicating.

"Night Nat," He disappeared swiftly, hoping Natalia was oblivious to how she had made him feel when they were on the sofa. As he reached his room, he heard her door swing shut.

"Just for the record, Nat," he whispered to himself, "I really do love you."

* * *

><p>Reviews = Cookies . . . never forget that ;)<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Okay so I enjoyed the RaiN chapter so much, I wanted to fit in another one before all the action started. And here it is! Enjoy oh RaiN fans :P

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><p>Natalia snuggled up in Ryan's spare bed and closed her eyes. She had only been in bed for several minutes when she heard Ryan's soft snoring from across the landing. The evening they had spent together had been near perfect in her eyes, the only thing which had dragged it down was the slight awkwardness between them. But maybe she had imagined that, after all she did find it hard to keep her feelings inside when Ryan was semi-naked the whole evening.<p>

She lay deep in thought, wondering whether to speak to Ryan. Before Molly, she knew Ryan would have accepted her in a heartbeat. _Damn! Why couldn't you have realised this earlier?_ Natalia groaned. Anything she said to Ryan now would make things extremely hard between them, and she couldn't bear to lose him even as a friend.

_Maybe he'll go off Molly . . . _She thought, feeling slightly guilty at the hope which sparked inside her.

Sighing, Natalia turned her mind to the other issue which had plagued her all evening. Although she had put on a brave face to her colleagues, Natalia privately admitted to herself that she was terrified of going undercover again. Her last experience had ended awfully, though she still couldn't remember quite what had happened. Nightmares about it still occasionally plagued her after all this time and she had vowed not to undertake any undercover operations for the foreseeable future. Yet here she was, planning to investigate a man who was suspected of murdering four women, and trafficking god knows how many more. Natalia cringed inside, wondering what exactly she had signed up for. In theory, it was a simple intel assignment; but as she knew, these things rarely went as planned.

Natalia fidgeted to get comfy for several minutes, before she finally rolled onto her side and let sleep claim her.

XXX

Ryan woke with a start, feeling slightly disorientated. It was growing light outside but his alarm displayed the time 05:19. He was confused as to why he had woken, he was a light sleeper but something must have happened to disturb him.

Brrrr

His phone lit up and vibrated on his bedside table and he reached over for it.

'Morning, are you awake?' The text read.

"I am now!" Ryan yelled, hoping to disturb Natalia as much as she had just disturbed him.

He heard the faint sound of feet padding across the landing, and a soft knock on his door.

"Ry . . . can I come in?" Natalia said in a small voice.

"If you really must." Ryan grumbled, still unhappy about being woken up.

Natalia appeared in the doorway wearing a short silky green dressing gown. "I didn't mean to wake you." She said sheepishly.

Ryan grunted in response, his brain still fuzzy and instructing him to be done with the conversation so he could sleep.

"I couldn't sleep," Natalia sat down on the corner of Ryan's bed, "I've been awake since half past four." She sighed.

Ryan finally relented and sat up, drawing his covers around his naked body. "How come, honey?" He bit his tongue, hoping Natalia wouldn't notice the mistake his sleepy self had made.

Natalia looked quizzically at him, but chose not to comment. "I just . . ." she trailed off and started again, "Ry, are you worried? About today?"

"Erm, a little. Last time I went undercover somebody tried to drown me," he said with a faint smile, "Nat you don't need to be afraid." He scooted over to her, still carefully concealed under his duvet, and wrapped his strong arms around her, nestling his face into Natalia's mass of thick glossy hair.

Natalia leaned into him, feeling suddenly safe and untouchable.

"I'm going to look after you, alright." He pulled her face round to look into her eyes, trying to communicate how he felt.

"Thanks," she whispered, "I needed to hear that." Natalia could feel the distance between her and Ryan closing rapidly, and his lips brushed hers softly before she pulled back.

"Uh . . ." Ryan mumbled awkwardly.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid, _thought Natalia, she had pulled away because she hadn't brushed her teeth yet and now she felt she had just lost the perfect moment to share her feelings.

"Sorry, I don't know what just happened." Ryan spoke again, wondering why he lost all self control around Natalia, and praying she would forgive his mistake.

Natalia opened her mouth slowly, testing the words out before she said them. _No! _A voice inside screamed. _He has a girlfriend; it's not fair to put him in this position. _She bit the inside of her mouth as she struggled with the decision. In the end her angel won, as it always did. She was not a bitch and she would not steal another girl's boyfriend, she decided. _Even if he is the man I love, _she added.

"It's okay, you're still half asleep," she smiled at Ryan and stood up, "but Ry, you have a girlfriend, don't forget that." Natalia had to admit she was starting to wonder whether her feelings were at least partially reciprocated, but it didn't change anything. While Ryan was with Molly, she would have to steer clear.

Ryan looked away, and nodded. "Yeah." Was all he said as Natalia slowly left the room.

XXX

Ryan woke up for the second time that morning to the sound of Natalia's slightly off key singing. He groaned as he remembered their previous encounter. He had been so sure she would return the kiss, the way she had looked up at him with so much love and desire . . . had he really imagined it? The more he considered it, the more he began to think he had, after all he was still not properly awake at the time.

"Ry-aan!" Natalia sang. "Pancakes are ready."

Ryan grabbed a pair of clean boxers and then slipped into a pair of jeans. "Pancakes?" He called back.

"Yup, and they're getting cold."

Ryan opened his door and immediately the smell of Natalia's cooking hit him. He followed the scent down into his kitchen to see Natalia, covered in flour, standing by his table.

"Where do you keep maple syrup?" She asked happily.

Wordlessly he opened a cupboard and handed her a small glass bottle.

"Ahh, I was afraid to look too hard in case I accidently moved something; it's all so organised." She took the huge plate full of pancakes from the work surface and set them on the table.

"Wow Nat, these look amazing."

"And they taste even better." She quipped as she added a generous amount of maple syrup to her pile of pancakes.

They spoke little as they devoured Natalia's cooking hungrily; both of their thoughts were occupied by their early morning antics, but both were unwilling to break the delicate truce they seemed to have formed.

"I had a really odd dream," Ryan commented when they had finished eating and the silence which stretched between them had started to become awkward, "we were both mice, and we lived in the jungle together."

"Mice? Living in the jungle?" Natalia raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently so," Ryan laughed, "we were jumping from tree to tree. It was kind of sweet, until this huge dinosaur started to chase us. But then you called pancakes and woke me up. Pretty damn good pancakes too." He added.

Natalia had broken down in laughter so intense that tears were starting to form in her eyes as she gulped for air. "You're looney."

XXX

After breakfast, Ryan fetched the blueprint of Mr Harper's mansion and the two spent most of the morning pouring over it, trying to decide which rooms to check out, memorising layouts and escape routes, and trying to come up with a general plan.

As they were about to roll it up and grab some lunch, the phone rang.

"Just leave it," Ryan said as Natalia went to pass it to him, "answer phone will get it."

"This is Wolfe, leave a message and I'll get back to you." Ryan's voice came from the phone's speaker, followed by a beep.

"Hey Ryan, it's Molly. I found out that fete thing is still on tomorrow if you're up for it? Anyway I've got to get back to work, so call me later, yeah?"

Ryan practically fell over himself in his rush to pick up the phone. "Hey Molly," he said, turning her off the speaker, "yeah I was just in the other room, totally missed the phone." He paused as she replied. "Mhm, maybe . . ." He shot Natalia a look she couldn't read. "Can I call you tomorrow when I know for definite?" He asked. "Okay, enjoy your day. I'll be careful," he promised, "alright, see you." He hung up.

"You made plans?" Natalia asked hesitantly.

"Nah, nothing definite." Ryan replied with a shrug, fighting hard with the guilt he felt for blowing off Molly. He did like her a lot, but compared to Natalia . . . Ryan brushed off the thought. He just needed some time to figure out what he wanted, and whether Natalia wanted the same thing. He would be honest with Molly when he needed to be, and before anything happened between him and Natalia. He wasn't _that_ guy.

XXX

At around six the phone rang again, this time it was Horatio.

"Hello Mr Wolfe," Horatio's voice sounded throughout Ryan's living rooms as he turned on the speaker, "is Miss Boa Vista with you?"

"Yeah, I'm here Horatio." Said Natalia.

"Good, I don't have much for you I'm afraid. We've been running more tests but nothing new has come to light. Have you taken a look at the blueprints?" He asked.

"Yeah, we probably know them by heart." Ryan joked.

"Okay then. We've found a way to put an officer close to you. I'm sending Frank to drive you over. The drivers usually park down the driveway and stay there while their employers are inside, if you get into any difficulty, contact Frank first and he'll call for back up. We'll be about ten minutes away, should you need us."

"Thanks H." Ryan said, slightly relieved they wouldn't be totally alone.

"I want you to let me know when you get there, and you're going to check in every twenty minutes." Horatio told them.

"We will." Natalia assured.

"Be safe." Said Horatio, before disconnecting the call.

XXX

Ryan glanced down at his watch, it was nearing half past seven, the time Frank had told them he would be there at.

"Nat, it's nearly time." He called up to her.

"I'm almost done." Her voice floated back to him.

She appeared several moments later at the top of the stairs, and Ryan took a sharp intake of breath. She looked absolutely stunning, he thought in awe. Natalia was dressed in an azure blue, silk halter neck wrap dress, which fell slightly below her knees and wonderfully accentuated her curves. Her hair and makeup were immaculately done and she was clutching a tiny bag, which she and Ryan had filled earlier with unassuming but useful objects.

She joined Ryan at the bottom of the stairs. "How do I look?" She asked nervously.

"You look gorgeous Nat, you always do." Ryan smiled and Natalia blushed.

A car beeped outside and Ryan opened the door. He took Natalia's hand and looked at her, trying to fill his gaze with reassurance.

"You ready?" He asked.

She nodded once, her face becoming a mask of determination.

Ryan squeezed her hand. "Let's go."

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><p>Aww, so they both kind of know they like each other now, let's hope they get the chance to tell each other . . . muahaha (I'm refering to the teaser in chapter 10)<p>

The dream about mice was actually a dream I had about me and my boyfriend (coincidentally he is my beta) to be honest, that was a pretty normal dream by my standards. Last night I dreamt I was Ryan . . . freaky :S I spend waaaay too much time writing about him.

I'd love to tell you how many more chapters I plan on writing, but honestly I have no clue. I have a rough story but mostly I just sit down and hope something good comes out XD It's worked so far I hope :) As always, reviews are immensely appreciated!


	12. Chapter 12

Wow those last couple of chapters seem to have drawn many new reveiwers :D thank you to everyone who reveiwed! I'm totally in love with this chapter, it's one of my favourites by far so I hope you'll agree :)

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><p>Frank pulled up outside Mr Harper's house at quarter past eight. The party had started only 15 minutes ago and already the house was a hive of activity.<p>

"Out you get then, you'll be waiting a long time if you expect me to open the doors for you." Frank stated.

"Thanks." Natalia replied, her mouth slightly dry from nerves. Ryan stepped round and opened her door, he took her hand as she left the car.

"See you." Ryan waved once at Frank as he turned the car around to take it to the end of the driveway to park. Ryan took his cell out of his pocket and hit speed dial.

"H, it's Ryan. We're in." Was all he said before disconnecting the call and depositing his phone back into his pocket.

He looked at Natalia and grinned in anticipation. Now they had arrived he could feel adrenaline start to flood his body, masking his earlier doubts.

"Before we go any further, I have one ground rule," she said in a firm tone, "we stick together at all times, got it? "

"Got it," Ryan repeated, smiling fondly at her, "I'm not going to leave you Nat."

"You best not." She afforded him a small smile.

The pair walked slowly towards the entrance of the house. It was still light out, but growing darker every minute. The sounds of laughter and clinking glasses poured out of the doorway, it was hard to think a man who did this much for charities could be capable of murder. _You'd be surprised,_ a dry voice in Ryan's head reminded him, _don't get complacent, for Natalia's sake if not your own._

"Excuse me Sir, can we see your invite?" A man dressed in a black suit called. He was wearing a wire, Ryan noticed, _security._

Ryan reached into the inside of his suit and withdrew the invitation.

"Thank you," the man smiled, "I just need to perform a short search of your persons before I can allow you in." He looked apologetic.

Ryan and Natalia both stood still as they were searched, praying they had remembered to take off everything which would identify them as cops. Eventually they were waved through into the house.

"What now?" Natalia asked, looking around nervously.

"We have to act normal for a while, let's just socialise. When it gets to nine, we'll have made our presence down here known and we can go exploring." Ryan gave her a quick wink and carefully slid an arm around her waist. "We are married after all." He blushed in response to her raised eyebrows.

Ryan bought two non alcoholic mojitos and the two proceeded to make idle chitchat with other guests of the party.

"How is your evening?" A voice came from behind.

Ryan and Natalia spun round to be faced by a charming looking man in his early forties.

The man stuck out his hand. "Mr Harper." He smiled at them beneath his floppy brown hair.

"Mr Harper," Ryan nodded, accepting the hand, "I'm Ryan Judge and this is my wife Natalia." Even though Ryan understood the gravity of the situation, he couldn't quite ignore the flip his stomach had done when he'd introduced Natalia as his wife.

Mr Harper reached over to Natalia and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Forgive me," he said, "but I can't quite recall how I know you, I should have thought I'd remember a face as lovely as yours." He said to Natalia.

"We know your brother; my husband spends all his free time over at that club." She rolled her eyes to let him know she was only joking.

"Ahh, that must be why I don't recognise the name." Replied Mr Harper, still with a slight frown on his face.

"It must." Ryan agreed, slightly forcefully.

"Well I have many more guests to greet," he said, a smile alighting on his face once more, "I hope you enjoy your evening."

At five past nine Ryan and Natalia slipped away from the main hub of the party. They had several rooms on the ground floor they wanted to check out and so that was where they were planning to start.

"Do you really think he's keeping the women in his house?" Natalia asked as they walked down an empty corridor. The sounds of the party were growing distant and she thought it safe to speak freely.

Ryan shrugged. "How else would he sell them at his events? They must be being kept in the grounds at least."

She nodded, feeling slightly disgusted that there could be women in this very house about to be sold into slavery. "Ry, isn't this one of the rooms we wanted to check out?" She pointed down the corridor towards a door which stood slightly ajar.

Ryan nodded. "I wonder why it's open." He put a finger to his lips and slowly made his way towards it. The corridor remained silent. "There's no one about, shall we take a look?" Ryan could feel his heart beating hard in his chest as he fought hard to control his fight or flight instinct.

Natalia walked down to join Ryan, she slowly tapped the door with her foot and it swung inwards. The room was small and cramped, every wall filled with shelves and every shelf full of medical supplies and pill bottles.

"Drugs?" Natalia asked hesitantly.

"I don't think so; didn't H say his wife was ill?"

"Yeah . . . you think all these supplies are for her?"

"Maybe. Let's have a look what there is."

The two moved carefully around the room, careful not to leave any traces of themselves.

"Hey Ryan?" Natalia motioned him over to where she was standing with a tiny bottle of liquid. "This is 50mgs, that's about the size of a syringe right?" She read the bottle more carefully. "What's Cisplatin?"

Ryan wandered over to her. "Cisplatin is a platinum ion complex. Z-Diamminedichloroplatinum (II)." He recited.

Natalia shot him a confused look.

"I have a chemistry degree," Ryan shrugged, "cisplatin is converted in cells into a reactive ion which binds to the DNA strands and stops them from dividing; it's used in chemotherapy to treat some types of cancer. I guess our guy was telling the truth about his wife."

"I guess," Natalia agreed, "looks like this room is a no go then. Everything in here seems legit." She sighed, hoping they could be done soon so they could be out. The longer they were there, the more potential things had to go wrong.

Ryan and Natalia searched several more rooms down the corridor but nothing jumped out at them as being overly suspicious. There was a laundry room, a small mess room which obviously belonged to the children, and a large pantry.

"Well the ground floor doesn't seem to have what we're looking for." Ryan said, feeling disappointed.

Natalia started to nod her head but then something caught her eye.

"What do you recon is down there?" She asked, apprehension filling her voice.

"Where?" Ryan turned to where she was looking. "Nat on the blueprints that room was drawn up as a large living area." He tried to reassure her.

"No but look." She pointed to where the door had opened a few inches. Ryan stepped closer to her, so close she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, it made her shiver in delight.

"Huh, are they steps?" Ryan's incredulous voice brought her back to the situation at hand.

Natalia nodded and deftly kicked the door wide open. A row of steps led down into a small room with a door at the other end.

"That's thirteen steps," Ryan counted quickly, "that means there could be a whole other floor beneath this one." He sounded shocked.

"An unregistered basement, perfect for a secret hiding place." Natalia commented dryly.

Ryan pulled out his phone and switched a light on; the small beam illuminated the tiny room. "Natalia," Ryan hesitated before heading down the stairs, "what's that?" He shone the light at the door handle and Natalia descended the stairs to have a look.

"Oh my god," she sounded sickened as she regarded the sticky dark red smudge on the handle, "it's blood."

"Think we've found our girls?" Ryan asked grimly.

"Yup." Natalia motioned as if to open the door when the sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor above them.

Both CSIs froze, quickly assessing the situation. The door at the top was wide open, anyone who walked by would easily be able so see into the room, and the room itself afforded no cover. Even if they did manage to make it to the corridor, they would be greeted immediately by the owner of the footsteps.

Ryan made a split second decision, praying it would work. He grabbed Natalia's hand and pulled her to the top of the stairs and out of the door.

XXX

Daniel Harper, the host's younger brother, was headed upstairs to check on his sister in law. The party was being held in the event rooms so he didn't encounter anybody on his way up – well apart from one couple making out passionately in the corridor. But that was to be expected at these sorts of events, and so Daniel continued down the corridor without giving the couple a second glance.

XXX

Ryan could feel his heart trying desperately to escape his chest as adrenaline coursed through him. He could feel his lips on Natalia's, working slowly to tease them apart and make room for his tongue. He was vaguely aware of his hand on her cheek and his other one around her waist, gradually moving down towards her bum. Natalia had locked up when their lips first met, but now she had moved into the rhythm of the kiss and her hand carefully caressed Ryan's cheek. It felt to Ryan that they stood there, intertwined, for an age as they explored each others bodies.

It was several minutes after the footsteps had disappeared that the two finally broke apart. Natalia let out a low moan of pleasure and Ryan stood breathless.

"Ryan . . . " Natalia's gaze was filled with longing and she had to fight hard to remain in control and not push Ryan back up against the wall.

Ryan nodded in understanding, his expression equally as saturated with love and desire. "That was," he struggled for the right words, "incredible."

When he had come up with the plan it had been a means of explaining their presence in the corridor without causing suspicion and he honestly hadn't expected in to evolve into what it had.

"I don't know what to say." Natalia said truthfully. Conflicting emotions raged inside her, the intense love she felt for this man fought hard with the guilt she felt at having kissed somebody who was not hers. In the end the love won over.

She looked up, intending to finally admit her feelings to him, but she had barely opened her mouth when Ryan's phone started to ring.

"Hold that thought." He said, noticing she was about to speak.

"H . . . yeah she's with me . . . we're fine, look we think we might have found something." He continued to explain to Horatio what they had discovered so far, until finally he pulled the phone from his ear and ended the conversation.

"What did he say?" Natalia asked.

"He said nice work and we should let him know if we find anything else. Did you want to go back to the party for a bit?" He asked, knowing intuitively that Natalia was on edge more now that she had been for the whole evening. "My nerves are kind of frayed at the moment, I need a break."

"Okay." Natalia replied thankfully.

"What did you want to say earlier, before Horatio rang?" Ryan asked as the sounds from the party drew nearer.

"Oh . . . nothing." Natalia sighed, the moment was lost.

Slipping quietly back into the party was an easy feat and the pair could feel the tension they had been carrying begin to evaporate when in the midst of so many people.

Ryan bought another round of non alcoholic drinks, to help them fit in, and they stood quietly together. Neither wanted to bring up the kiss now that they had calmed down slightly, to do so could be awkward and they couldn't afford to be on anything other than top form tonight. Both, however, were definite that they would have to talk about it soon.

After about ten minutes of planning their next moves, interspersed with casual conversation when anybody drew too close, Ryan felt his head start to go fuzzy. At first it was just a bit annoying, but after another five or so minutes, it became extremely hard for him to concentrate on Natalia's words. He felt distant from her, and the party in general, and a strange stinging sensation had appeared in his hands.

"Ryan? Ryan are you okay?" He heard Natalia call to him with concern.

He frowned. Was he okay? He couldn't tell. He had developed a pounding headache and suddenly his skin felt like is was on fire.

With blurry vision, he picked up his glass, intending to down what was left to try and cool himself. That was when he noticed something odd about the drink. The bottom of the glass was coated in a thin white powder; it looked like something had been added to the drink and only recently produced the precipitate.

Ryan gazed at the glass with horror, vaguely aware of Natalia's voice becoming more urgent. He picked up her glass and forced his eyes to focus, the same powder was there.

"Nat, how do you feel?" He asked, his voice sounding lethargic and weak, even to his own ears.

"I feel fine, what's the matter Ryan?" She sounded terrified.

"Okay here's what I want you to do. Go to Frank, go straight to him." He lurched forwards, suddenly disorientated.

"Ryan you're scaring me."

"I'll be there in a few minutes I promise." He quickly squeezed her hand and then pushed her away.

Natalia obeyed almost immediately, placing total faith in the man she loved and praying it was the right thing to do.

Ryan watched her leave, his head spinning dangerously. Whatever his and Natalia's drink had been spiked with, he was obviously having an adverse reaction to it.

He stumbled almost blindly through the room, until he found what he was after, an empty glass and a small salt shaker. Crashing through tables Ryan eventually reached the gents and almost fell into the door.

By this time his breath was coming in short gasps and his headache had worsened to the point he was surprised he hadn't passed out from the pain. He put a generous amount of salt in the glass and filled it with water. He didn't know what sort of drug he had been poisoned with and his only hope was to try and remove it from his system. He held the glass in a shaking hand as he brought it up to his lips.

Smash.

Glass shattered everywhere as Ryan's hand slipped, and his limp, lifeless form came crashing down onto the cold tiled floor seconds later.

* * *

><p>Haha the Cisplatin stuff wasn't random research I did online, that was taken straight from my A-level chemistry revision I was doing the other day for my practical exam XD anyway I love portraying Ryan as a chemistry geek so I added it in :)<p>

And OMG the ending? Let me know if you liked it please :) it's my favourite yet!


	13. Chapter 13

I realised that this chapter and the previous chapter were actually the bits of inspiration which I built the whole case around. Yup that's right, I literally built a whole story around Ryan being poisoned and kidnapped . . . lol. Well it seems to be working out alright so far :) Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Natalia had been sat in Frank's car for ten long minutes. She didn't understand why Ryan had told her to leave, and despite her rule, she had let him out of her sight. Natalia felt sick. Something bad had happened to him she just knew it. He had no reason to stay behind alone, what had she been thinking letting him go?<p>

"Frank I'm going back in there." She said, her voice hard with determination.

"Oh no you don't." Frank leaned over to pull her back.

"Frank you don't understand!" Natalia yelled in frustration. "Ryan's in there and something is really wrong." She had tears of desperation forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Woah, Natalia you have to calm down, you're not going to be any help to him like this. I called Horatio about three minutes ago, we're not going in without backup."

Natalia shot him a fearful look but sat back down due to a dizzy spell which washed over her.

"You okay?" Frank sounded concerned.

"I'm fine." She snapped.

"You look really pale," he commented, "and you're shaking."

Natalia looked down, surprised. She was indeed shaking but she didn't feel even remotely cold. She thought back to Ryan, staring at their glasses. At the time she hadn't really noticed it, but now it seemed to be the missing key to a puzzle she'd been trying to solve since she left him.

"I know what it was. Frank, Ryan had been poisoned! Someone must have slipped something into his glass." She reached over to push open the door of the car but another dizzy spell hit her harder than before and suddenly she was falling . . . falling.

XXX

Horatio was in his Hummer with Eric, Calleigh and Walter had volunteered to wait back at the lab and they had also set off when Frank had called. He drove fast, desperate to ensure his CSIs were safe. Frank's call had been slightly garbled, they had caught that he was with Natalia and that Ryan hadn't come back. But back from where, Horatio was unsure.

Static crackled as his car radio picked up an incoming message.

"I need an ambulance to Frank Tripp!" Frank's voice yelled. "Officer down. Repeat, Officer down."

Eric cursed in the seat next to him. "What the hell!" He vented in frustration. Eric was finding it extremely hard to cope with the lack of specifics they had received.

Horatio heard another voice address Frank's request. He was glad they had notified the emergency services beforehand of the operation and its location, so they could contact them quickly if they were required.

He passed a red light, thankful that the roads in this area were near empty by this time.

"Frank, what's your situation?" Horatio yelled into his radio.

"Horatio," came Frank's relieved voice, "Ryan's still inside and Natalia's just collapsed. How far away are you?"

"Just hold on Frank, we're almost there." Horatio replaced to radio.

"Shit," Eric swore again, "how did this happen?"

"Eric, I don't know." Horatio answered quietly as fear began to wrap itself around his heart. God help the man who harmed any of his team.

XXX

Calleigh gasped as her and Walter received Frank's 'officer down' message. They were tearing through Miami on their way to Mr Harper's house but they were still a good five minutes away.

"Give it some more gas Walter." She insisted.

"The accelerator's floored!" Walter all but screamed back at her. The lack of information had definitely taken its toll on them both and this was not the first of their arguments this car journey.

"I hope they're okay." Calleigh said softly, realising for the first time just how much trouble her friends could be in.

"They will be," Walter reassured, "and then we're going to hunt down the bastards that did this to them."

XXX

Alexx Woods had been on standby at the hospital all evening after she had received Horatio's call. Now she rode in the ambulance, praying that nothing bad had happened to one of her own. The sirens wailed as the ambulance careered down the roads towards the coast. After what felt like a lifetime they turned into a wide driveway and killed the engine.

Suddenly everyone was moving as Alexx jumped down to be briefed by Horatio.

"Alexx, Natalia's in the car, Frank says she passed out about five minutes ago. Me and Eric have just arrived, Walter and Calleigh are on their way."

"Thank you Horatio." Alexx turned around towards Natalia, suddenly all action.

"Oh baby." She murmured, scraping back Natalia's hair from her neck and checking for a pulse. "She's breathing." Alexx shouted to her team of paramedics as she continued with her checks.

Eventually she stepped away from Natalia's motionless form and let her be transferred carefully onto the ambulance bed.

"I don't know what's wrong with her Horatio," she said with glistening eyes, "she shouldn't be unconscious. If she wakes up soon I'm nearly sure she'll make a full recovery. If she doesn't," Alexx spread her fingers in despair, "then I don't know what we're dealing with."

Horatio nodded and stepped over to where Natalia lay. "Where," he paused, "where is Mr Wolfe?"

Eric nodded. "I'm on it H. Shall we storm it?" He glanced towards the house.

"No, take Calleigh and find Mr Harper. Do it now."

Both CSIs nodded and set off down the drive way at a brisk jog.

"Can I see you invite?" A security guard drawled.

Eric lifted his jacket to flash his badge. "We're with Miami Dade PD."

The guard opened his mouth again but Eric and Calleigh had already walked in without a second glance.

Calleigh scoured the room with a trained eye. "Eric I don't think he's here."

"Let's check the other rooms." He said as the two moved quickly through the crowds.

"Eric, isn't that the guy who owns the Evora?" Calleigh asked, pointing at a man in a smart grey suit.

"Daniel Harper," he nodded, "let's find out what he knows." They followed the man down a corridor, away from the main party. He had just pulled out his phone when Eric's voice sounded from the other end of the hallway. "Freeze! MDPD"

Daniel Harper turned around slowly to stare, wide eyed, at the two CSIs. "May I help you?" He asked calmly, seeming to quickly regain his composure.

"Where's your brother?" Calleigh asked in a cold tone.

He gestured towards the party. "Somewhere in the crowds." He shrugged.

"Don't lie to me!" Eric shouted, stepping menacingly towards the man.

"I, I swear I don't know." Daniel stuttered, cringing back against the wall.

Eric shoved him once. "You're pathetic." He spat as he stepped away.

"Come on Eric, we're wasting our time." Calleigh said, shooting Daniel a disgusted look.

Eric grunted in response and turned to head back to the main rooms. _Wolfe could be anywhere,_ a voice told him, _this house is massive, and by this time there's no knowing if he's even here still._ He punched a wall in frustration.

"Okay, so where would you go to hide in a house like this?" Calleigh asked, trying to reason Ryan's thinking. It was extremely hard to do without knowing the reason Ryan had stayed behind in the first place.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Eric sighed, pulling out his cell which had started to ring. "Delko." He answered.

"Eric," Horatio greeted him, "Frank said before Natalia passed out she said something about poison in Ryan's glass."

"Poison?" Eric gasped and Calleigh's face suddenly adopted a worried frown.

"See what you can find." Horatio said, before hanging up.

"Poison?" Calleigh repeated. "Oh my god this is bad."

They walked over to a couple sitting in the middle of the room.

"Excuse me, but did you see anybody acting strangely around her about ten minutes ago?" Calleigh asked.

The man shook his head but his wife nodded and started to speak. "There was that one guy, remember?" She addressed her husband.

"What guy?" Calleigh asked sharply.

"Well he was just a bit odd. He crashed into a couple of tables on his way to the bathroom and he took the salt shaker from our table. He looked awful," she remembered, "pale and sweating."

"The bathroom you said?" Eric asked forcefully, and the woman nodded meekly.

"Great." Calleigh flashed a quick smile as she took off after Eric.

They reached the bathroom, it was locked. Eric banged on the door loudly. No response. He held up three fingers. Two. One.

Eric slammed his body into the door, causing the wood to splinter and the lock to break. "MDPD." He yelled.

Calleigh shook her head as she stepped inside. "Eric it's empty." She noticed the glass littering the floor and the salt shaker standing by the sink.

"He was trying to throw up, get rid of the poison." Eric commented.

Calleigh quickly checked the toilet. "Looks like he didn't make it."

"That would explain all the water in the floor; he must have dropped the glass before he got the chance."

"Eric, the window." Calleigh pointed. The small bathroom window had been almost ripped off its hinges in an attempt to widen the gap.

Eric tore out his cell and dialled Horatio.

XXX

Ryan felt himself slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. He was somewhere warm, he thought, warm and quiet. _Peaceful? _He wondered. _Not quite._

His eyes fluttered open slowly and he found himself in a large empty room. It looked like a show room. Or an empty house maybe.

Ryan blinked, struggling to remember how he had ended up here. He had been with Natalia that evening . . ._ Oh fucking hell, where's Nat? _He screamed silently. He remembered kissing her, and the feel of her warm body pressed so closely to his. He started to panic; he couldn't remember leaving her at all. He had promised he would stay with her for the whole night and yet here he found himself. Without her.

Ryan struggled to sit up, every muscle ached and groaned with the effort of it. His headache had returned. _Returned?_ He analysed the thought suddenly, remembering he had had a headache before. Slowly the pieces dropped into place, leaving with him a general, if slightly hazy, picture of his evening. _It still doesn't explain where I am._

Footsteps echoed in another room, drawing slowly closer to where he half lay.

"Officer Wolfe?" A man's voice called, sounding concerned.

Ryan realised he recognised the voice, but he couldn't place it. He hoped it was somebody he knew, somebody come to take him back to the lab.

The man entered the room. He was tall and had a head of floppy brown hair. "Officer Wolfe," he sounded concerned, "I'm so glad you're okay, I was worried for a while there that. . . I was worried." He finished lamely. Ryan knew what he was going to say anyway, he was worried that Ryan was going to die. Ryan privately agreed, he had also been worried.

He tried to speak but no coherent words seemed to come out, he was so confused and his head just kept pounding.

"I swear I would never have dosed your drinks with that stuff if I knew you were going to react like this." The man said sadly.

"What was it?" Ryan coughed out. He couldn't bring himself to be afraid of this sad, lonely looking man, despite the fact he had just admitted to being the poisoner.

"I forget what it's called. My wife's doctors use it, though apparently it isn't legal yet, it's something they've only just started to develop. They use it as an anaesthetic, but its side effects include memory loss. I didn't want to hurt you," his eyes shone with sincerity, "I just wanted you to forget what you'd seen."

"Natalia?" Ryan managed to ask. He could feel panic begin to flood his body and his breathing became short and shallow.

"You're friend?" The man asked calmly. "She appeared fine when I left, though I suspect it may have hit her by now. Don't worry if she was going to react like you I'm sure it would have happened at a similar time to you." He tried to reassure Ryan.

Ryan tried to regulate his breathing and succeeded, it was important for him to stay calm. "What now?" He asked.

The man's eyes grew haunted. "You know too much. I don't want to hurt you, or anyone. But if I let you go I'll be arrested, and my wife . . . she'll die without my financial support." A tear rolled down his cheek.

Ryan had been trying hard to understand this man and he was beginning to feel the onset of fear.

The man sighed heavily. "I don't suppose you'd promise not to tell, Office Wolfe?" He wanted so badly to believe Ryan would keep such a promise.

"How'd you know my name?" Ryan realised it was not the first time he had used it during the conversation.

The man gave a hollow sounding laugh. "It wasn't hard, when I suspected you were cops, to do a quick search. Sure enough Ryan Wolfe and Natalia Boa Vista work together on the same floor."

Ryan felt lost, he had no idea what on earth this man's agenda was, and without that knowledge there was little he could do. The pain in his head was fighting to pull him under again.

The man stood up. "I'll bring you something to drink." His face was back to being concerned again.

As he left, a memory floated back to Ryan. "Mr Harper." He whispered softly, as his eyes slipped back and he fell once again into oblivion.

* * *

><p>Yes I know I used the same cliffhanger in this chapter as the last one (although now Natalia's status is also in question O_o) If it ain't broke don't fix it XD<p>

There will be a fair amount of Ryan angst in the next few chapters I think. Good thing? Bad thing? Lemme know! Also a fairly big converstion between Ryan and Kris which should explain a few things (like the title!) Sorry for the lack of RaiN, will be hard to add in until we rescue Ryan (_if_ we rescue Ryan) but then I'll make up for the lack of it I promiseeee :D


	14. Chapter 14

Okay so this is definitely not the best chapter I've written, but there's a lot of content I need to shift through. Also seeing as I've split my characters up I'm trying hard to keep up with them all. Sorry for the lack of Ryan in this chapter, I got carried away with other stuff and didn't want this chapter to be too long. There will be a long Ryan scene in chapter 15 :) promise! Stick with me, it'll get better and RaiN will be back!

* * *

><p>"Miss Boa Vista?" A voice called, cutting through the darkness Natalia felt surrounded by.<p>

"Come on baby. You're going to be fine, you hear me?" Another voice spoke, it sounded a bit like Alexx, Natalia thought, but she was only here with Ryan. There would only be one reason for Alexx to be here . . .

Natalia's eyes shot open and she gasped for breath. Alexx placed a restraining hand on her shoulder and looked down with worried eyes.

"Ryan?" Natalia asked wanly.

"Honey we need to make sure you're okay first," Alexx stalled, "what can you remember about being poisoned?"

"Poisoned?" Natalia said the word slowly, not quite believing she had heard right.

Horatio stepped closer to where she lay. "Natalia, before you passed out you told Frank you believed Mr Wolfe had been poisoned. Why?"

"I . . . I don't know," she stuttered, "I can't remember."

"What can you remember, honey?" Alexx asked kindly.

Natalia frowned, she remembered she had been at Ryan's house, and she definitely remembered his expression when she had appeared at the top of his stairs. She pushed harder against the wall in her mind; she thought something had happened between them since they had left the house, _the kiss_. But aside from that one memory, she had no recollection of the events between leaving Ryan's house and right now.

"We left his house, with Frank." She said with a dry mouth. Looking around at the puzzled and concerned faces told her this was not what they had expected to hear. "What happened?" She asked in a small and scared voice.

"We don't know yet." Horatio said as he whipped out his ringing cell and stepped away.

"Alexx?" Natalia looked up, silently begging for answers.

"Natalia . . . they think Ryan is still inside the house. Eric and Calleigh have just gone in."

Natalia started to hyperventilate. Why had she left Ryan inside alone? If anything happened to him it would be her fault. She remembered making him promise he wouldn't leave her, what had happened in order for him to break his promise? And why couldn't she remember anything about what had happened?

"Calm down sweetie, it's going to be okay." Alexx's soothing voice cut through Natalia's panic.

"He promised." She moaned, tears forming in her eyes and starting to gush down her cheeks. Alexx stroked her forehead lightly as she cried; this was not the strong Natalia she remembered from her days as ME, _maybe the after effects of the poison?_ She wondered.

"Alexx, can I take a blood sample back to the lab?" Walter asked.

Alexx turned to regard the team's newest CSI; he was always spoken highly of by Horatio and so without ever meeting him, Alexx found she had developed a huge respect for him. "Sure Walter," she prepared a syringe and turned to where Natalia half lay, "I'm going to take some blood okay baby?" She said calmly.

Natalia looked up, her eyes still full of tears, and nodded hesitantly.

"Good girl." Alexx said reassuringly as she inserted the syringe. Seconds later she handed Walter the small vial of blood. "I've read about something similar to this in medical journals, although the substance I'm thinking of isn't legal yet. It's a fast acting anaesthetic which, in small doses only lasts for a handful of minutes, memory loss is a common side effect," she inclined her head towards Natalia, "it hasn't been approved yet because so many people seem to be allergic to it and have really bad reactions."

Walter listened intently to what Alexx had to say. "If you're right, if it is this new drug . . . what if Ryan reacted badly to it?"

Alexx frowned as she thought, and lowered her voice so Natalia couldn't hear her next words. "I read that when people react badly to it the survival rate is about fifty percent. But it's only been trialed on terminally ill patients as a last resort. The odds should be much better for a healthy young man."

"Right, well I'll get these back to the lab, hopefully the night shift can help us out."

A feeling of dread had settled in Alexx's stomach. In theory, Ryan should be healthy enough to fight out the poison and, seeing as it was only a short term drug, the effects should start to disappear within an hour. But it was still only in the trial stage, there was no way to be sure. One thing was abundantly clear; they had to find him, and soon.

XXX

Horatio had set off to find Eric and Calleigh the moment Eric had finished explaining what they had discovered. Now the three of them stood in the small bathroom, staring around at the obvious struggle which had taken place.

"I've sent Frank and some of his patrol men to clear the house. This is our crime scene now." Horatio stated.

"Good," Calleigh gave a fleeting smile, "I'll go grab my crime kit." She strode purposefully towards the door, trying to push all emotions from her mind. _It's a crime scene, _she reminded herself, _you have to be emotionally detached. But it's Ryan! _The gravity of the situation hit her again. She had dealt with crimes involving her colleagues before, and they never, ever got easier.

"H, I'm going to see if I can climb through the window and see if there's any evidence outside."

"Wait until Calleigh's taken her crime scene photo's first, Eric." Horatio reminded him kindly.

Eric flushed. He had just made a rookie mistake, but when it was one of his friends in danger a small bit of contamination to the crime scene didn't seem like a big deal if it could speed the investigation along.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" A boy's voice screamed. Eric and Horatio spun to find a teenager standing in the entrance to the bathroom, wielding a gun in shaking hands.

"We're with the Miami Dade crime lab," Horatio answered evenly, "son, why don't you put down the gun?"

The teenager pointed the gun at Horatio. "Not until you tell me what you've done with my dad!" His voice blazed with fury.

Eric looked to Horatio, he was always the best at handling these situations. "Your father is Kris Harper, am I right?"

"Where the fuck is he?"

"Son, we believe your father has kidnapped one of our CSIs."

The boys gun dropped an inch or two in disbelief, before he raised it again, defiantly. "You're lying! How dare you lie to me about my own dad!" He squeezed off a shot and Horatio dived out of the way. The recoil of the gun startled the boy and he staggered back.

"Put the gun down." Came Calleigh's voice, her own gun jabbed into the boy's back. He froze, and slowly bent down to drop his weapon. "Semi-automatic," Calleigh mused, "it's a Beratta. Where'd you get this?" She asked sharply.

"I, uh, I bought it from a guy at college." The teenager stuttered, all at once his rage seemed to have seeped out of him. "Did my dad really kidnap someone?" He whispered.

Horatio looked at Calleigh and Eric for a long moment, before turning to the boy. "Come with me son, I'll tell you what we know, they how about you answer some questions?" The boy nodded and allowed himself to be led away by Horatio.

"Poor kid." Eric sighed.

"Dangerous kid." Calleigh corrected as she pulled on a pair of gloves to pick up the firearm.

Eric grabbed the camera and worked slowly around the small crime scene, taking pictures of everything.

"Cal I'm going to go round the back and see if we can find where Ryan was led away."

Calleigh was absorbed in the crime scene and barely looked up from her evidence as she replied. "Yep."

Eric walked through the now empty house. Outside a perimeter had been established by Tripp to keep the guests of the party from returning indoors. Most of them looked confused and slightly angry as they stood behind yellow tape, waiting for their gracious host to appear and sort everything out. _Only he isn't going to appear, because the bastard kidnapped Ryan._ Eric jogged round the house until he found the bathroom window.

"Calleigh, how you getting on?" He shouted.

"Eric," Calleigh called back, a smile in her voice, "I think I just found our first piece of evidence. This gun still has its serial number, it's almost brand new. I'm going to find out where this gun is really from," she paused, "hey Eric, did you see Nat when you went by the driveway?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, she was sitting up but I didn't stop to check up on her."

"Okay." She sounded disappointed.

"Can you pass the camera out to me?" He asked. Calleigh's hand snaked through the open window with the camera and Eric reached up for it. Their hands clasped for a tiny fraction of a second as the camera was transferred, Eric noticed it. He wondered if Calleigh did too.

Eric snapped several shots of the grass, there was an obvious trail which indicated that Mr Harper had dragged Ryan over the floor. _He's not a heavy man, why not carry him? _Eric wondered. Eventually the trail ended, but it met with something far more interesting. Marked into the grass there were tyre treads which lead round to side of the house and cut through straight onto the main road, as Eric followed them he could barely make out the driveway, which ran parallel on his left. He bent down to examine the treads and he instantly recognised them from the photo's Walter had taken at his crime scene the day before. They were the treads of a Lotus Evora.

Eric sprinted back up towards the house and found Horatio standing with Frank, Mr Harper's son was nearby, hands in his pockets looking thoroughly miserable.

"H, the car that took Ryan was the same one who picked up the driver of the van in the Everglades." He said quickly.

"Daniel Harper's car?" Horatio asked thoughtfully.

"It seems so. Me and Calleigh saw him earlier, headed upstairs I think."

"Are you talking about my uncle?" Mr Harper's son asked nervously.

"Eric this is Sam," he turned to face the teenager, "Sam, meet CSI Delko."

Eric nodded politely and Sam stared awkwardly at the ground, after all he had just tried to kill Eric.

"Lieutenant Caine," he spoke up, trying to sound brave, "my uncle has an office on the second floor where he works with my dad. He's probably there."

Horatio smiled gently. "Thank you Sam."

"I'll go and fetch him." Frank growled.

XXX

Walter arrived at the lab and quickly made his way to DNA. The lab was quiet, most of the night shift were busily tapping away at computers. It reminded Walter of his early days there, before he had been promoted to day shift. He recognised several faces, but was too busy to stop and chat.

He reached the room he was after and entered. Only one person was in there, she looked up under a curtain of thick blonde hair and smiled.

"Evening Walter." The woman said.

"Molly?" Walter stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just picking up some results, don't worry I still work in trace." She teased with a smile.

"Yeah, but what are you doing here at this time?" Walter asked, totally bewildered.

She shrugged. "I had today off, so when the night shift trace tech called in sick I volunteered to cover. Never say no to overtime." She laughed while reading her results.

"Huh." Came Walter's stunned reply.

"What are _you _doing here anyway?"

Walter looked down at the blood in his hand and deposited it at the front of the samples which needed running. "Molly, did Ryan tell you anything about his assignment?" He began, heavily.

* * *

><p>Well now do you see what I meant at the top? Hahah. Also did anyone spot the teeny tiny almost-so-small-it-wasn't-there moment between Eric and Calleigh? Would you like the scene with Molly extended, or is everyone sick of her? I'll try to make the next chapter awesome :D<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

So you all have **bebobnidan** to thank for me having finished this chapter today :D Haha.

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><p>Kris Harper sat across the room from Ryan's lifeless form. He was lost in thought. Nothing had turned out as he had hoped in the past few days, he had done many things which he had regretted and now he wondered if he was about to add to the list.<p>

Ryan stirred and mumbled a word in his sleep. Kris thought it sounded like 'Nat,' but he couldn't be certain. _Isn't Natalia the name of Ryan's partner? _He wondered. He hoped she was alright, he hadn't expected this reaction to the drugs he had given Ryan, and he prayed silently they had worked properly on her.

He glanced over to the pale young man and felt the chill of remorse spread down his spine. This man was a good guy, a cop, trying to catch a killer; he deserved none of what had happened to him. _And none of what is going to happen, either._ Kris reminded himself, with a sigh.

Ryan stirred again and moaned out in pain. Kris' heart went out to him. _What you're doing is necessary._ He knew this was true, and no matter how much regret and sorrow he felt, he knew he would do it a million times over.

_For her._

XXX

"You're not serious?" Molly asked Walter weakly, after he had quickly summarised the day's events.

Walter nodded sombrely and Molly's eye's pooled with tears. "Oh my god." Her voice was barely audible.

Walter patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Shall we find somebody to do the blood work?" He asked gently.

Molly allowed herself to be led out of DNA and into trace, where Walter sat her down and disappeared to find a lab rat to run his blood sample.

She sat, totally absorbed in her own thoughts. She couldn't believe this had happened to her boyfriend. Could she even call him her boyfriend? _Yes,_ she decided. After their talk the other day she was certain they were now exclusive, and that meant he was boyfriend. Molly leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling, trying to comprehend just how bad the situation was.

"How you holding up?" Walter asked when he returned.

"I've been better." She wiped tears angrily from her eyes and tried to look defiant.

Walter took a seat next to her. "Molly . . . I've got to get back down there," he said carefully, not wanting to upset her further, "do you think you could call me when the blood work is finished?"

Molly nodded, glad she could be of use while stuck inside the lab. "Sure, Walter? Could you let me know, you know, if you find him?" Her voice trembled ever so slightly.

"Of course." He said kindly as he stood up.

XXX

Ryan had been awake for several minutes, but his eyes remained firmly closed. He could tell Mr Harper was still in the room by the long breaths he drew and the slow drumming of his fingertips. Ryan had hoped he would leave the room, which would give him an opportunity to escape, but it didn't look promising. Eventually curiosity won over possible escape and Ryan sat up wearily. He pressed a tentative hand to his forehead, but his headache had receded to a faint dull pain.

"Ryan." The man across the room smiled in relief.

"Mr Harper." Ryan responded.

"Kris, please." The man corrected him.

"Erm, okay Kris. Why am I here?" Ryan was surprised by how bold his voice sounded when inside he was so terrified.

Kris' warm smile faded. "Ah, so direct," he paused for a long time, trying to find a truthful reply, "I suppose you're here so you can't tell anybody what you saw."

"What did I see?" Ryan asked, trying to coax an explanation from this broken man.

"You saw where I kept them." Came the evasive reply

"Who?" Ryan shot back.

Kris snorted softly. "I know you are an intelligent man, Ryan, but please don't patronise me. You know who."

Ryan flinched visibly, but held his corner. "You're trafficking women." He stated.

Kris nodded sadly. "There were extenuating circumstances." He said softly.

"Circumstances which gave you the right to sell human beings into slavery? For a profit?" Ryan spat.

"Yes." Kris shot him a dark look, struggling with his anger.

"Oh I'd love to hear them." Ryan drawled. Inside he was screaming at himself, why was he deliberately trying to antagonise this obviously unhinged man?

Immediately the anger etched in Kris' features faded, to be replaced overwhelming sadness. "I need the money for my wife's treatment." He whispered, tears suddenly poured down his face and he made no effort to hide them.

Ryan didn't speak; he just shot a questioning look back.

"I don't expect you to understand, you're a cop and I've broken the law, I know. But I love her, I'd do anything for her. Without the treatment she'll die!" He implored.

"You murdered four women." Ryan said in a monotone voice, there was no reasoning with this man.

Kris sighed. "They were desperate measures. Let me explain?" He asked.

"Go ahead." Ryan frowned, unsure why Kris wanted to tell him of his crimes

"Okay, Ill start with the women," he took a deep breath, "my brother used to work in Cuba and when he moved back to manage one of my clubs he brought back a friend who was his PA. When Lilly, my wife, got ill I started to drain my clubs of the excess I invested in them and my brother noticed. It was his PA's idea to use the women to . . . make money."

"You mean sell." Ryan added.

"He offered to fly back to find willing . . . participants."

"Willing?" Ryan asked, sounding disbelieving.

"Yes willing," Kris snapped back, "they were young, beautiful, talented women stuck in poor homes with few prospects."

"Oh I see, you 'did them a favour?'" Ryan smirked.

"They wanted to come, I offered them a better life where they would be looked after and respected for their capabilities. They got a cut of what I sold them for. I'm not heartless you know."

"How much of a cut?"

"One million dollars. I took five, and my brother's friend who sourced them took one. Five million dollars pays for one week of my wife's treatment."

"Your brother didn't gain from it?" Ryan was surprised.

"He loved my wife like a sister, my cut _was_ his cut. It was the two of us who sourced clients. Such a hard task, say too much to the wrong people and we'd be finished."

"So what I don't get is why you killed those girls, if they meant so much?"

"Three girls were supposed to be delivered to my house a couple of days ago, they would cover the next three weeks of treatment. But when I went to greet them, one of them was dead. She just lay there in the van . . ." Kris trailed off, his eyes looked haunted.

"So?" Ryan pressed.

"She had the symptoms of meningitis, I couldn't risk letting the other girls into my house, what if my wife caught it! And I couldn't sell them because if they passed it to my clients I'd lose my reputation. I had no choice."

"If you'd taken them to a hospital they would have been fine!" Came Ryan's yell. 'I had no choice' was a crappy line, and Ryan had heard it so many times before. It meant nothing.

"But I'd have been caught." Kris said in a patronising voice.

Ryan glared at him. "Who's idea was the bomb?"

"My brother's, he used to work in construction and demolition. He picked up a couple of useful skills. He made the bomb, his PA dumped the van and then he picked him up before the bomb went off."

"We figured it was something like that," Ryan paused, "what about the other girl."

A pained expression flashed across Kris' face. "Her sister was the girl with meningitis, I'd promised her I'd let her see her sister and they could keep in touch; when her sister never showed she tried to escape. The dogs weren't fast enough so I shot her to slow her down, but according to your colleagues the bullet killed her."

Ryan nodded in agreement. "Her sister? We didn't find any familial matches." He frowned.

"I think they were adopted." He shrugged.

"What about the gun? You don't have any registered to you nor you brother."

"My brother's PA." Kris replied simply, dismissing the question with a wave of his hand.

"The tattoos?" Ryan fired.

"Ahh, the tattoos. I wanted them to remember their heritage, they were a gift."

Ryan looked at Kris with disbelief. "A gift?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

"A gift," Kris repeated, "I'm not a monster." He whispered sadly. He like this young man, he was clever and intuitive, a real asset to Miami. But he had indulged Ryan's questions long enough. He knew what must come now.

* * *

><p>Was really struggling to write Molly's reaction, I'll give her some more scene-time soon and try to develop it further. Also . . . anyone feeling Ryan's Stockholm syndrome? I'm starting to really enjoy my villain as Ryan gets to know him . . . shame he's going to have to do something really bad soon O_o<p>

Catch the first reason I named the fic Desperate Measures? Does it make sense/work? Reviews are always appreciated, I'm addicted to them more than caffeine ;D


	16. Chapter 16

Wow I'm really cranking out these chapters at the moment, I'm on a roll! Hope it satisfies :D

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and is still reading this far in! You're all awesome!

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><p>"Horatio I found the bastard." Frank growled, shunting a dishevelled looking man towards where the Lieutenant stood.<p>

"Thank you Frank, we'll take it from here." He motioned towards Eric and Frank nodded and returned to the perimeter.

"Why am I here?" The man asked weakly.

"Daniel Harper?" Horatio asked and the man gave a frightened nod. "Daniel, you are here because you're an accessory to murder."

"M-murder?" He stuttered.

"Where the fuck did your brother take Ryan?" Eric screamed in his face.

"Easy Eric," Horatio placed a restraining hand on Eric's arm, "we have reason to believe Kris has kidnapped one of our Officers; I'd like you to tell me what you know." It wasn't a question.

"I don't know anything." Came the instant reply.

Eric stepped up close to Daniel. "If you don't tell us what you know right now, I swear to god I'm going to make you pay." He whispered threateningly.

Daniel's face turned pale and he drew a shuddering breath. "I want to speak to my lawyer."

"Tough shit, you know where he is and so help me I'm not letting you out of my sight until you tell us what you know." Eric blazed with anger.

"Eric," Horatio motioned him away from their suspect, "we have to do this properly. In a few hours IAB will be breathing down our necks for the whole investigation, seeing as one of our colleagues is directly involved; we can't afford to give them any ammo."

"H . . ." Eric began, looking pained. Horatio shot Eric a look which spoke volumes, he had been overruled. His shoulders slumped in defeat as the fight dissipated from his body. "You're right H." He muttered.

"I know this is tough, but we have to do this properly. It's the fastest way to get him back." They both knew who Horatio was speaking of. The pair turned back towards where Daniel stood.

"Mr Harper, I suggest you sort out a lawyer immediately, because in ten minutes we're taking you back for questioning." Horatio said harshly, causing the man in front of him to whimper pathetically. "Frank, this man needs to make a phone call and then I'd like you to escort him back down to the lab."

"Sure thing Horatio." Frank replied with a steely glint in his eyes, moving over to stand by the suspect.

Calleigh appeared at the doorway to the house and strode purposefully towards Horatio. She was clutching her crime kit in one hand, and balancing a series of evidence envelopes on the other.

"This is everything I collected from the scene," she sighed, "I tried to be as thorough as possible, but there isn't much to work with here." She indicated to her envelopes with a discouraged expression.

Eric wrapped a strong arm around the petite blonde. "Come on Cal, lets get these back to the lab." He said gently. The pair had been broken up for several months now, but warm affection still hung in the air between them._ Maybe something more? _Eric wondered.

Horatio smiled at the two from a distance. His team could always pull together when they needed to.

XXX

Walter had just arrived back on scene and was greeted by Eric and Calleigh.

"Do we have any more leads?" He asked hopefully, though inside he was terrified for his friend.

Calleigh waved a bunch of evidence envelopes in his face. "We have these. Me and Eric are going to check them out now."

"We're also going to interview Mr Harper's brother when Frank gets him to us. He's definitely involved." Eric added with a dark look.

"Huh," Walter sounded surprised, "well let me know what you get." He turned and hurried over to where Natalia was sitting on the back of the ambulance. She had a huge blanket draped over her and Alexx was standing sternly by her side.

"Hey Walter," she called cheerfully, "do me a favour, tell Alexx I'm good to go."

"Uhh . . ." Walter looked questioningly as the doctor and she shook her head.

"Honey you're not going anywhere." She said matter of factly.

"Alexx I feel fine, please let me help." Her deep brown eyes were begging to find Ryan. It broke Alexx's heart, but she stuck to her guns.

"Not until you've been fully checked out. We don't even know what you were dosed with, for all we know you could be slowly dying." Alexx's words came out sharper than intended, but seemed to have the desired effect.

Natalia's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry," she wailed, "I just can't stand it that he's out there all alone and hurting, and I'm not doing anything to help."

"I know baby, I know." Alexx murmured gently as she slipped her arms around Natalia's shoulders and drew her close. "Did you get the blood work back?" She asked Walter over Natalia's shoulder.

He shook his head. "I should be getting a call any minute now though." He added.

XXX

Back at the lab Molly had been hanging around DNA, waiting for the blood sample Walter had left to be run. She was pacing up and down the corridor nervously, just to keep herself moving. Inside she was falling apart.

_If anything bad happens I swear I'll hunt down whoever did this! How will I cope if it's serious? How will he cope? What if he gets killed? No Molly, you can't think like that. What does this mean for _us_? It sounded like he was trying to brush me off earlier, on the phone . . . was that because of Natalia? Is he in love with Natalia? He said he wasn't, he said nothing would happen between them. OH MY GOD MOLLY HE COULD BE DYING! This is no time to be jealous. Oh Ryan please come back to me safely. I know I'm playful and I tease you, but you're the sweetest guy I've ever met. Ryan I'm falling for you. I couldn't bear to lose you._

Tears sprung to her eyes at what she had just admitted to herself. She had barely met this wonderful man, if he chose to reject her, she could learn to cope; but to be snatched away like this? Molly couldn't take it. She needed to help more actively in the investigation. She wouldn't stay cooped up in the lab if she would be of more use in the field.

"Molly I've got your results." A voice called.

Molly looked up, it was one of the night shift's lab techs and he was holding a sheet of paper in his outstretched hand. "Thank you." She gushed, glad to have something to finally do.

"Hope they help, I couldn't really understand them." The tech shrugged and disappeared back into his room.

Molly immediately grabbed her cell phone and dialled Walter's number.

"Hey this is Wa-"

"Walter I've got the blood work back." Molly said quickly, cutting Walter off mid-sentence.

"Molly?"

"Yes." She replied impatiently, running an eye over the freshly printed page while she let Water catch up.

"Oh, okay. What can you tell me?"

"The compound doesn't have a name." She frowned, glancing down again at the sheet, sure there must be a printing error.

"That's okay, we think it's not a legal substance yet. Do you have a structure?"

"It's organic, carbon and the like." She quickly reeled off the chemical composition.

"Hmm, that's an aspirin derivative. It's a benzene ring with and carboxyl group and an ester attached, it's almost identical."

"Does that help?"

"It means Dr Woods was right about the poison," Molly could tell he was grinning by his voice, "if her medical journals are right, it also means its effects are short term and they should probably have worn off already."

Molly felt relief start to flood her body. That was one good piece of news at least.

"Walter? I was thinking . . . I know I'm usually in the lab . . . but if I could be of more use to you in the field, I'd love to be able to help." She gushed.

The speaker when quite, save for the crackly sound of static, as Walter considered her offer.

"Okay, we're finishing off here, but if we get any new leads I'll ask Horatio if you can tag along."

"Thank you so much, I just feel like I'd be much more aid if I wasn't stuck in the lab. Thank you!" She repeated, before ending the call.

XXX

Kris' phone beeped, breaking the heavy silence which now hung between him and his captive. They had had several more conversations about unrelated topics, and despite himself, Kris found he had an awful lot of respect for the young cop.

'They got me.' The text read. Kris swore quietly. His brother was great at what he did, but he was spineless; within minutes of being questioned, Kris knew he would spill everything. _Including my current location._

"Huh?" Ryan asked, hearing Kris' angry hiss.

Kris stood up and motioned for Ryan to do the same. "We're moving." He said curtly.

Ryan struggled to stand due to the ducktape which his captor had bound him with since he had woken up. Eventually he made it to his feet. His legs felt shakey, like he was moving through water and he took an uncertain step to test his weight.

"Come on, easy now." Kris chided.

"Where to?" Ryan asked, feeling more comfortable speaking to him since they had started to come to know each other.

"I don't know." He snapped, whipping out a gun. Ryan immediately flinched in terror, afraid of what the man would do. He fought to regain control of his breathing, but he could feel his heart fluttering loudly.

"I'm coming, the gun isn't necessary." He tried to reason, eying the small handgun. It was a Beretta, similar to his own which sat uselessly in his locker.

"I can't risk you escaping, you need to be incapacitated for the journey, so I can concentrate on the roads." Kris mused.

Ryan, by now, was a hundred percent sure that Kris was slowly losing it. No other hostage situation would involve the captor explaining his every move. _You know what it means when the captive gets told everything,_ Ryan thought with growing dread.

At the last minute Kris changed his mind. He didn't need this man dead, there was a way around it.

"You tell me something about you. Something private. Something you can't risk getting out, that could ruin your life. And I'll let you go."

"What?" Ryan's mouth fell open.

"We'll be even." Kris said.

"I can't, there isn't anything. I'm a cop." Ryan immediately regretted telling the truth.

"Of course there's something," a mad gleam was growing in Kris' eyes, "I don't want to kill you. But if I need to hurt you to make you help yourself, I will."

Ryan took a step backwards, panic was starting to set in.

Kris drew out a long hunting knife from beneath his waistband, it's jagged edges glistened menacingly, and took a step towards him.

* * *

><p>Uh-oohhh things aren't looking good for our favourite Wolfe right about now :O But there was another teeny hiphuggers moment which just managed to slip in ;)<p>

Haha I made crude aspirin in Chemistry the other month, I'm always finding ways to slip in tiny bits of my knowledge. Hope it adds to the realism!

(You knew this was coming . . . ) Please review, all and every comment is welcome, even if it's just pointing out a spelling error! Also I gave chapter two a title for some unknown reason. Shall I name the rest or not bother?


	17. Chapter 17

Okay I'll admit this probably isn't one of my better chapters, there was so many emotions and character moments I wanted to fit in but couldn't. There's no down time because everyone's busy trying to save Ryan. I'll try and add more character moments in chapter 18 :)

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><p>Ryan screamed out in pain as the hunting knife tore through his flesh to leave a deep messy wound.<p>

"YOU'RE FUCKING MENTAL!" He roared, struggling to hear his voice over the roaring which slowly filled his ears.

Kris stepped back, contemplating Ryan's words. Slowly he began to shake his head. "I'm doing this for your sake, don't make me kill you." He begged.

The piercing agony in Ryan's stomach caused him to double over in pain. His hands were pressed tightly against the wound and already they were covered in bright crimson blood. He stumbled backwards and slipped down the wall.

Kris bent down next to his injured captive, still brandishing the knife. "Please . . ." He said softly.

Ryan kicked out at him, trying to knock him off balance. "I'm not going to help you, you crazy motherfucker." He said through gritted teeth, struggling to remain in control as waves of pain washed over his body.

"Mistake." Kris informed him, taking the bloody hunting knife and plunging it once more into Ryan's stomach. Ryan howled as the knife softly sliced his skin and left an even deeper wound running parallel to the first.

His captor glanced at his watch and swore. "Time to move Officer Wolfe," he held out a hand to help Ryan up, "come on, easy now."

Ryan looked down at the blood which had blossomed over his crisp white shirt and his shaking hands which were doing little to prevent to flow. Already he could feel his mind becoming clouded, but he knew he must fight the feeling. He stared confusedly at the hand which was being offered to him, this man had just stabbed him, why on earth was he now trying to help?

"Come on Ryan." Kris chided again as he pulled the younger man to his feet.

Immediately Ryan's head began to spin and he staggered forward, trying to regain his balance. Kris reached down for his discarded Beretta and pushed it into his waistband along with the bloody knife, and wrapped an arm around Ryan's waist to support him.

"Where are we going?" Ryan asked thickly, the words suddenly required so much effort.

"Somewhere different," Kris muttered, more to himself than to Ryan, "you're going to be okay, do you hear me?"

He led Ryan out of the room and into what seemed to be an ordinary house. After what felt like a mile of walking, Ryan was directed out onto a small drive way where a white van stood next to a red Lotus. _Doesn't Kris' brother drive a Lotus? _He wondered with vague interest. He knew he should be more bothered about where he was, but as he felt the strength slowly being sapped from his body, it was becoming increasingly difficult.

Kris opened the back of the van and helped Ryan inside. He removed his suit jacket and tossed it over. "Use it to stem the bleeding." He called as he shut the doors and walked round to the front.

Ryan wrapped the jacket tightly around himself and used the arms to tie it. He was keenly aware of how cold he had become, but he knew the jacket would be of more use acting to stem the bleeding.

Kris pulled off the drive, but with no windows in the back of the van Ryan had no idea where he was being taken. He felt his eyelids start to droop and shook off the sleep which fought to overwhelm him. The pain in his stomach had receded to an aching throb, although he was sure that he only had hours before he was bled dry. He sighed and leaned back, praying his friends would find him before it was too late.

XXX

Once Alexx had received the results of Natalia's blood work, she had finally given up the struggle to take Natalia back to the hospital. Natalia had wasted no time in rushing over to her team to be briefed, and Alexx judged by their expressions that they had found something important.

Natalia felt tear spark in her eyes as Horatio explained the scene in the bathroom. "It's all my fault," she whispered miserably, "all my fault. I left him. Why? Why did I leave him?" She said, addressing nobody in particular as she angrily swiped the tears from her eyes.

"Miss Boa Vista, what's important now is that we find him." Horatio said gently, giving Natalia an awkward yet reassuring pat.

"Yes, yes you're right." Her face adopted a determined expression, her worrying was of no use to Ryan.

"Good. Eric and Calleigh are on their way to the lab with Daniel Harper. I'm going to stay here with Walter to see what we can dig up in Kris' private documents."

"Okay . . . what shall I do?"

"I'd like you to take a trip to Daniel's home."

"By myself?"

Horatio considered it, remembering the request of one of the lab techs, brought to him by Walter. "No, I'd like you go by the lab and pick up the new young lady from trace."

"You want me to take a tech out of the lab?" Natalia asked, surprised.

"She requested to help in the field. I think she knows Mr Wolfe. Her name is Molly Sloan, have you met her yet?"

Natalia's jaw dropped and she struggled to regain her professional composure. "Yes I know her." She nodded with a blank expression and swiftly turned away.

XXX

"Thank you so much Horatio." Molly said, relieved she could finally do something to help Ryan. She ended to call and tore off her lab coat, discarding it in a very un-Molly-like fashion on one of the desks. She made a quick check of everything she needed and in less than five minutes she was fully equipped to leave to lab.

Molly hurried down the corridors into the lift and stabbed at the button to take her to the ground floor. She was glad she was working with Natalia as she had always gotten the impression they got along fairly well. In addition, Natalia was a close friend of Ryan and Molly thought Natalia cared nearly as much about him as she did.

She walked over to the parking lot just as Natalia's Hummer was entering. Molly gave a quick wave as the car pulled up beside her and she hopped in.

"Thank you so much for offering to take me along. I just couldn't stand being cooped up in the lab when, you know, when Ryan . . . Ryan is." She stopped speaking as she choked on the tears which had started to pour down her face.

"Molly!" Natalia snapped. "Pull yourself together; I can't take you out like if you're going to act like this." She knew it was a harsh thing to say, but even though she disliked this woman she wasn't trying to upset her. It was just the simple truth.

"Sorry Natalia, sorry. I'm okay, I'm good to go." She mumbled as the tears began to subside.

"Good." Natalia grunted as she turned out of the parking lot and floored the accelerator.

XXX

Frank had just finished booking Daniel Harper and had called Eric who was sorting out evidence with Calleigh, to come and conduct the interview.

"Sit tight you pathetic piece of crap." Frank growled at Daniel as he sat him down in an interrogation room.

Eric appeared with the southern blonde in tow; both wore matching expressions of unwavering resolve.

"How did you want to do this?" Frank asked the pair quietly.

"Look at him," Eric pointed disdainfully, "he's a coward, it's not going to take long to crack him."

"I suggest we explain the charges levelled at him, he might cooperate faster if he thinks it'll help his case." Calleigh said.

"Nice call." Eric grinned at his partner and made his way into the room.

Calleigh took the seat opposite their suspect and Frank and Eric stood menacingly behind her. It took hardly anytime at all before Daniel started talking.

"So where'd your brother take Wolfe?" Eric finally asked the question.

"He took my car and said he was going to my home." Daniel looked miserable.

Calleigh immediately stood and left the room to let Horatio know.

"What is he going to do to him?" Eric snarled.

Daniel shrugged. "I couldn't say. Your guy must have found something important for Kris to kidnap him, so I'd guess he intends to kill him."

It was the nonchalant manner in which he said it which made Eric the angriest, and within seconds he had flown around the table smacked Daniel back into the wall.

"If your brother lays so much of a finger on Ryan. . ." Eric trembled with rage.

"Eric," Frank carefully pried him away from their suspect, "it's not going to help Ryan." He reminded.

Outside, Calleigh had just finished speaking with Horatio and was now trying to reach Natalia and Molly who had just set off for the house.

XXX

Ryan was taken out of the van after a ten minute drive and led into a large empty warehouse. He was dizzy from the blood loss and collapsed onto the floor as soon as he got the chance. He was vaguely aware of Kris speaking to him, asking him questions which his mind couldn't form coherent answers for.

"Damn it Ryan, I'm trying to give you a chance! I've got enough blood on my hands without adding yours!" Ryan heard Kris say. Slowly the warehouse was becoming distant.

_Ryan shivered, everything around him seemed to be growing colder despite the warm blood pooling onto his hands, he wondered vaguely why it wasn't warming him up. His breaths were coming in quick, shallow gasps and he closed his eyes to try and calm himself. Two deep gashes stretched over his stomach and slowly his heart worked to drive all of his life out through them_

_Somebody spoke to him but Ryan could hear little outside of his small, pain filled world._

_Bang._

_Ryan screamed as a feeling of ice slid into his right shoulder and began to spread out down his arm, causing it to fall away from where he was trying to stem the bleeding from his stomach wounds._

_He could see the darkness eating away the edges of his vision and fought harder to remain conscious. He knew what unconsciousness would mean for him. Death._

_Ryan could make out concerned face hovering somewhere above him, he recognised it, but his brain refused to supply him with a name. A hand reached out to him as another careered towards him. Ryan felt something plastic impact with his cheek and his head whipped backwards, hitting the wall behind him with a sickly crunch. Stars exploded over Ryan's vision and the darkness claimed him._

_Seconds later he slipped out of consciousness._

* * *

><p>Haha the teaser from many chapters ago has finally resurfaced! Things just keep getting worse for poor Ryan! Hope you enjoyed reading more than I enjoyed writing this chapter, hopefully I'll get some new inspiration tomorrow before I ruin chapter 18 as well xD<p>

Molly in the field? With Natalia? Hahah I'm looking forward to their next scene!


	18. Chapter 18

I hope this chapter makes up for the dreadful chapter 17, I'm feeling much more creative today, thank you to **bebobnidan** for continuing to inspire and listen to my rants xD And a HUGE thank you to everyone who is reviewing! Your reviews are the highlight of my life!

Ryan's passed out through the whole of this and we probably won't hear from him now until he gets rescued, which I think is pretty soon :D ENJOY!

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><p>When Natalia's cell phone had started to ring in her pocket she had ignored it; but now it was ringing for the third time she tore it out of her pocket and slammed it down on the dashboard.<p>

"Answer it." She commanded Molly, still concentrating on the road ahead as her speed kept climbing.

Molly stared at the cell phone, almost afraid to answer it. She wasn't usually like this, most of the time she was a strong and independent woman and a part of her hated how pathetic she was being. Her eyes narrowed in resolve as she reached for the phone.

"Natalia's cell." She answered calmly.

"It's Calleigh, who am I speaking to?" An accented voice asked sharply.

"It's Molly, is everything okay?"

There was a pause, it sounded like Calleigh had stepped away from the phone to confer. "Okay Molly," her voice growing louder again, "we've received new information which indicates Ryan is being held in Daniel Harper's house. That's where you and Natalia are headed?"

"Yep." Molly felt relief start to flood through her, they knew where Ryan was, it was only a matter of time before he was safely back with her.

"Right, tell Natalia – wait, put me on speaker," Molly instantly complied and Calleigh's voice filled the car, "Natalia?"

"I'm here Cal."

"Good. Natalia I need you to wait for back up before you go in."

"Wait?" Natalia fought hard to remain calm.

Molly looked alarmed. "Why can't we just go in? Anything could have happened."

"Molly think about it," Calleigh snapped, "the two of you are not prepared to deal with a hostage situation."

Molly flushed. "I guess I didn't think about that."

"That's okay," Calleigh's voice softened, "I know what it's like when somebody you love is in danger."

Natalia caught Molly's confused look. _Of course she wouldn't know about Eric and Calleigh's relationship, she's too new. It's a good job they're finished, else she might have tried to steal Eric too._ Natalia immediately felt guilty for the spiteful thought, Molly had no way of knowing the history she had with Ryan. _But still . . ._

"Natalia that goes for you too!" Calleigh's voice cut through her thoughts.

"I'm sorry, what?" Natalia asked sheepishly.

"No heroics." Came the simple reply.

XXX

Kris Harper stood gazing down at the young man who lay in a crumpled heap on the floor in front of him. _Why can't he just speak to me_, he wondered miserably. He had never intended for any of this to happen, if he'd only remembered to lock the door to his basement he could be at home right now. He'd left his wife and his children with no explanation and there was no way to contact them now until he had seen it through.

Kris didn't think of himself as a bad person. He had just stumbled across a series of misfortunes which had forced him to make some hard choices. Despite what anyone might say, he had taken no pleasure killing those girls; he had only done it out of necessity.

He looked down with disgust at the gun he held and flung it across the warehouse. He would not use it again, he decided. His idea to torture Ryan had been a desperate attempt to save his life, because obviously Kris couldn't just let Ryan go; not when he knew so much. He sighed, there must be another way to convince this man.

Kris bent down gently next to the motionless form of Ryan Wolfe. He could hear the man's ragged breathing, it was the only way he could tell he was still alive.

"Come on Ryan." He murmured softly, rolling Ryan onto his back and retying the jacked tighter around his waist. Kris next undid Ryan's belt and fastened it above the bullet wound on his shoulder, hoping to stem the bleeding. He looked sadly at Ryan's blood saturated clothes and tried to determine whether there was any evidence of himself upon them. Ryan didn't have a lot of time and Kris knew that once he gave him the information he needed, Ryan would need to be taken straight to a hospital and there would be no time to waste removing evidence. Kris was hopeful that if he let Ryan go and Ryan kept his word, there wouldn't be enough evidence against him to build a case.

_Then I can continue supporting my family._

Kris had known from the start that he would have to turn himself in at the end, but the end wasn't there yet, his wife still needed months more treatment. She was depending on him and he didn't intend to let her down.

XXX

Natalia pulled her car into a small side road and parked up. She swung herself quickly down from the car and Molly hurriedly followed her.

"Erm Natalia . . . ? Where are we going?"

Natalia extended an arm to point at the house opposite them. "There." She continued to walk purposefully towards the house.

"But Calleigh said – "

"I don't give a shit what Calleigh said, if Ryan's in that building I'm going to get him out." Her voice was hard and set.

"What if – " Molly began again.

Natalia swung round and eyed Molly dangerously. "Look, whatever. If you want to go wait in that car it's fine by me."

"No, no I want to help."

"Fine." Natalia turned to face the house and left an ashen faced Molly standing, shocked, in the middle of the road.

As Natalia approached the front door she could immediately tell something was wrong. It was standing half open and leading from it was a trail of bloody footprints which disappeared in the centre of the driveway. Tension seeped out of her to be replaced by an almost overwhelming fear. _WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE?_

"Molly," she called, "Ryan's not here. Let's do a quick sweep and then let Horatio know."

Molly sprinted over and drew her gun, cautiously following her senior inside.

"MDPD!" Natalia shouted, hearing the words reverberate around the silent house. Keeping her gun trained in front of her, Natalia kicked open several of the doors on the ground floor but all the rooms were empty.

"Natalia." Molly called. Satisfied they were alone, Natalia found Molly at the foot of the stairs. They were covered with the same bloody footprints which stained the drive way.

"Fuck." Natalia swore again as they retraced the footsteps up the stairs. They led to a room at the back of the house which she swiftly kicked open to produce a satisfying 'bang'.

"Ohhhh." Molly shuddered and felt her legs suddenly become weak.

"Holy shit." Natalia's voice came out in a strangled whisper as the pair regarded the room in utter horror.

The room itself was empty, but the cream carpet was saturated with blood. It had been trodden all around the room staining almost every inch of carpet, and there were more than a few bloody handprints, as if somebody had used the walls as support. There was a concentrated pool of the thick crimson liquid in the far corner of the room.

"Oh, oh." Molly said again, unable to come to terms with what her eyes were telling her brain. She had turned very pale and held a shaking hand over her mouth.

Natalia was ready to fall apart as she felt her whole life crashing down in front of her. Ryan couldn't be dead. She refused to believe it. _Somebody could bleed this much and survive it_, she thought, clinging onto the hope with all of her strength.

Natalia risked a glance at the blonde; she was shaking her head slowly. Natalia knew how tough it was the first time, now was _not _the time to pass a snide comment about how she needed to pull herself together. Instead she wrapped her arm around Molly's heaving shoulders and gently led her away from the room.

"Molly," she tilted the woman's face until their eyes met, "Molly he's going to be okay." Molly's spaced out eyes slowly re-focused and she gave a small nod.

"Thank you." She whispered.

XXX

"Walter," Horatio called across the long room Mr Harper called his office, "Ryan has been moved from Daniel Harper's house."

"Daniel?" Walter paused in thought. "That's the brother right? There are too many Harpers." He groaned.

Horatio nodded without smiling, Ryan's life was on the line and containing his emotions was all he could do without risking breaking down or losing it completely. "We need to find records of all the properties he owns, any of his clubs could be a prospective hiding place but I'm willing to bet some will be more convenient than others."

The two continued their search in silence for several minutes, each unwilling to bring up the topic which inhabited their every thought. Ryan.

"H, come and take a look at this." Walter eventually called, shattering the calm which had begun to form around them.

Horatio strode over, his eyebrows furrowed. "What am I looking at?" He asked, glancing down at the huge thick folder Walter had handed to him.

"It's a list of all his real estate." Walter flipped it open for Horatio to read the fist document inside; it was the deed to the very house they were standing in.

"Good work Walter."

XXX

Horatio stood at the head of the table with his CSIs gathered around him. He had granted Molly permission to take a few hours off, which she had accepted gratefully, she was just visible through the glass walls of the lab, crying softly to herself in the break room. Lying, scattered around the table, were photocopies of every document in the file Walter had found.

Calleigh had wheeled in a huge board which she had neatly divided into three sections, 'high priority', 'medium priority' and 'low priority'. The task they had been set was simple; categorise the properties from the documents.

Horatio had asked for them to refer specifically to the accessibility from Daniel's address and how remote (therefore how good-a hiding place) they were from densely populated areas.

The team worked quickly and efficiently, scanning the real estate for its location and tacking to documents onto the board in their correct positions.

Everyone was starting to feel the strain of their task. It was now past two am and yawns regularly broke the silence in the room. Worry for what could have happened to Ryan in those four hours since he had left Natalia had threatened to overwhelm each CSI during the course of the search, but eventually the team stepped back to view the finished board.

Eric walked over and tore a sheet from the 'high priority' section and smashed it down on the table.

"This is my guess. It's one of the few buildings which he hasn't converted into a club." He slid it across to Horatio, who glanced down at the document. It detailed a warehouse in the centre of an old industrial estate.

"It's a bit cliché." Natalia suggested, reaching for the document. She read it warily, trying not to feel too much hope as she was afraid to feel the crushing disappointment she knew would inevitably follow. "Scratch that, this is a brilliant place to take him!"

She passed the sheet on the Calleigh as Walter huffed impatiently. "What? What's so great?" He asked in frustration.

Eric took the map of Miami the team had been referring to and pointed out the rough location of the warehouse, he then traced a finger across the freeway which ran straight from the industrial estate to Daniel Harper's home.

Walter nodded and accepted the sheet from Calleigh. "It's perfect," he gasped, "right out in the middle of nowhere."

"Indeed." Horatio agreed.

"Are we all going?" Eric asked nervously as the CSIs cast fleeting glances at one another. None could bear being left behind, but it was necessary, if the warehouse was the wrong location they needed part of their team back at the lab, ready to respond to another building.

Horatio frowned, knowing how tough the decision would be. Eventually he selected two of his team.

Piling into his Hummer with backup following, Horatio reflected on his decision, hoping he had made the right choices.

Back in the lab two CSIs watched the rest of their team pulling out of the parking lot, praying when they returned it would be with Ryan.

* * *

><p>I did like the MollyNatalia scene, although it bothers me that 'my' Molly is turning into a bit of a wimp - she isn't, she's just extremely worried for Ryan (who wouldn't be?) I'd like to know people's opinions on my villain as well (please :3) seeing as a good villain is just as important to the story.

Also, the two CSIs Horatio takes with him are flexible (i.e. I haven't picked them yet xD) So if you have preferences let me know and I'll see what I can do!


	19. Chapter 19

Okay this is a pretty short chapter but hopefully it covers quite a bit of ground . . . I'll say no more. Read away! (And then review :D) Ahahah

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><p>Natalia had gone to sit in the break room with Molly while Walter poured over the board they had assembled, looking for other possible locations.<p>

"Hey." Molly smiled wanly as Natalia entered, her eyes were red from crying but they were now free from tears.

"How you holding up?" Natalia asked, keenly aware of how badly she had treated this woman, and trying hard to make it up to her.

"Uh . . . I can think of times where I've been better." She laughed humourlessly.

"Yeah, can't we all." Natalia agreed, sitting down next to her.

For a while the two just sat, blonde and brunette side by side. Both terrified of the same thing and yet both unwilling to admit it to the other.

"You and Ryan?" Molly asked hesitantly, after a time.

"Hmm?" Natalia wasn't sure what she was being asked but she suspected it would be something she had no intention of answering. _Just drop it Molly_, she tried to direct the thought towards her.

"Well, you know you two have quite the . . . history." She selected the last word carefully.

Natalia's eyebrows shot up. "Molly, you have no idea what you're asking." She warned. Hers and Ryan's history was a complicated one, full of what-ifs and maybes. Natalia's mind drifted back to the kiss they had shared, she recalled the arousal and desire in his eyes. _That wasn't a maybe,_ she reminded herself. She shook her head; it was not her place to stir things up with Molly, especially now. When Ryan was safe he would have to make a decision and she would have to respect it, if he chose Molly over her . . .

_What if he doesn't come back? _The thought rose unbidden in her mind. _Molly deserves to know the truth, doesn't she? She deserves to know her boyfriend's last kiss was with another woman._ Natalia was instantly appalled at herself, although there was some truth in her thoughts. _No, no it doesn't matter, because Ryan _is_ coming back. Okay Nat. OKAY?_

Molly watched in confusion as tears gathered on Natalia's long dark eyelashes and threatened to fall.

"You two were pretty close huh?" She ventured.

Natalia's eyes darkened as she fought to keep her temper under control. "You have no idea." She spat angrily, standing up and marching out leaving a bewildered Molly wondering what exactly she had said wrong to elicit this response.

XXX

Horatio stepped out of his Hummer along with Eric and Calleigh. Behind them several SWAT units were positioning themselves, their guns trained on the only entrance to the warehouse. Horatio motioned towards the SWAT Commander.

"We have a hostage situation Commander, we suspect one of my team is inside."

The Commander nodded. "We'll wait for your word before we fire, Lieutenant."

"That . . . would be appreciated."

Calleigh and Eric stood huddled together, fighting off waves of tiredness and battling against the cool, crisp night air.

"I hope he's okay." Calleigh murmured for the third time.

Eric took her face softly in his strong hands and tilted it until he could gaze into her eyes. "We've got to believe he is." He whispered, as he looked tenderly at the woman he had never stopped loving.

"Eric . . . " Calleigh murmured as she held his gaze, unsure of how to respond in the heat of the moment.

"Are we ready?" Horatio called, causing the pair to jump away from each other guiltily.

"Yeah, we're ready H." Eric took Calleigh's hand and squeezed it tightly, reassuringly.

XXX

Inside the warehouse Ryan had slowly started to come around. He could feel his whole body throbbing and several sharp stabs of pain in his right shoulder. Ryan struggled to remember what exactly had happened, he could only recall an immense pain and then an intense darkness had seemed to engulf him.

He groaned softly and tried to push himself up with his left arm, but a wave of dizziness hit him so forcefully he was knocked off balance. Ryan looked down at the blood pooling out around him. He felt so weak and tired. It would be so easy now for him to just close his heavy lids and drift off to a place where he would never feel his pain again . . . so very easy.

A loud bang sounded from somewhere outside of the warehouse, pulling Ryan back from the point of no return. He knew this should spark some emotion inside, but the best he could manage was a mild curiosity.

"RYAN!" A voice roared from the opposite end of the warehouse.

Ryan tried to reply, to let somebody know he was there, but all he could manage was a faint moan.

"RYAN!" The same voice screamed again and more shots were fired. It was a voice Ryan thought he recognised, but his reeling mind refuse point blank to provide him with a name.

"No!" Cried a man's voice desperately. "Please you don't understand."

"Mr Harper, I suggest you put down the gun." Another man replied calmly. _H?_ Ryan wondered.

"I can't," came the miserable answer, "I can't." The man sobbed again.

A deafening bang sounded much closer to Ryan and agony ripped through his broken body. The pain was so great he couldn't even pinpoint a location of entry. As his eyes were rolling back into his head, he thought he heard another shot ring out and a body crash down nearby. But then he was gone and he was no longer sure.

XXX

As Horatio squeezed the trigger, he saw the faces of the countless criminals he had shot. Horatio knew he could easily incapacitate this man, as he could have many others, but for reasons known only to himself, he didn't. The gun was aimed to kill, and kill it did.

XXX

As Kris' body hit the floor it was clear he was already dead. His dim eyes stared vacantly up at the ceiling, their pleading lost along with the rest of him.

Calleigh screamed and flew to the floor next to Ryan. Eric was right behind her.

"Ryan! Ryan!" She clung to the bloody form which lay motionless and her tears fell steadily onto his pale skin.

Behind them, Horatio was on his cell phone demanding an immediate response rescue team.

"Calleigh . . ." Eric stared at the heartbreaking picture before his eyes. Ryan had been a little brother to him; sure they had fought and had their petty arguments, but deep down they had a friendship built up on trust and respect. There was no way Ryan was dead.

Calleigh's wracking sobs shook her whole body as she turned to Eric and buried herself in his arms. He held her tightly, running his hands lightly across her silky hair and down her back.

"Cal?" He asked hesitantly.

She mumbled incoherently into his shirt and he took it as a sign to continue.

"Did . . . did you check . . . just to be sure?" They had both seen the blood which coated the floor around Ryan's body, there was a lot of blood, much more that you'd expect somebody to be able to survive without . . . but still, it was a big leap to just _assume_ he was dead.

"Oh god!" Calleigh moaned, as fresh sobs coursed through her. Eric carefully pulled her back, away from Ryan's body and kissed her forehead lightly before gently prising himself away and turning to kneel next to his friend.

Eric stretched out a shaking hand and rested it lightly on Ryan's neck, feeling for a pulse. This couldn't be happening again, first Speed, then Jesse . . . he couldn't lose anybody else.

There it was, the faintest beat of Ryan's heart pumped blood through his neck just enough for Eric to feel it. Relief washed over the older CSI and he felt tears prick the corners of his eyes.

"Come on Ryan, just hold on. It's going to be okay man. It's going to be okay . . ."

* * *

><p>More Hiphuggers in this one, obviously a tragedy such as this is bound to bring them closer together again :)<p>

And yay Ryan is found, now let's hope he survives! Heehee :3

Hope you enjoyed it :D


	20. Chapter 20

Yikes sorry it's taken me so long to get this up! Enjoy :)

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><p>Eric sat with Calleigh in a near empty hospital waiting room. Their fingers were interlaced on his lap and Calleigh's head rested ever so slightly on his broad shoulders. In front of them Horatio paced the length of the small waiting room, casting out a nervous air to all who went by.<p>

To Eric, the last hour had passed in a blur of lights and noises. His eyes felt heavy and every movement felt slow and lethargic. He could recall Alexx's kind face reassuring him, promising to let him know of any changes in Ryan's condition. It was this that he held on to, this which kept him battling the exhaustion which frequently threatened to overwhelm him.

The sharp click of heels sounded down the corridor, causing all three team members to start.

"You don't understand," a frustrated voice floated down to them, "my friend is down there!"

Eric and Calleigh looked at each other. "It's Natalia." Calleigh stated simply.

"It is indeed," Horatio nodded, "I'll see to it." He turned sharply and headed out of view down the corridor.

"I'm sorry, we already have three people waiting with this patient, we can't allow anymore. It's protocol."

"Protocol? All we want to do is wait outside!" Walter's voice said, sounding distinctly unimpressed.

"It's okay they're with me." Horatio said firmly.

"Yes Lieutenant." A nurse replied in a faintly embarrassed tone.

Horatio reappeared with Natalia and Walter in tow, some distance behind them another woman followed. Eric vaguely recognised her as one of the trace techs, Molly.

Calleigh immediately dropped Eric's hand and closed the distance between her and Natalia. Natalia's face was pale and withdrawn and her eyes were red, it looked as though she had been crying recently, but she appeared calm and resolute as she stood before Calleigh.

"Oh Nat." Calleigh murmured sadly as she drew Natalia into a hug.

"I can't lose him." Natalia choked, trying to hold off the inevitable tears.

"You're not going to. Alexx is in there with him and they're doing _everything_ they can, okay?" Calleigh soothed.

Natalia mumbled incoherently into Calleigh's shoulder and they pulled apart and sat down, speaking in low tones.

Eric looked across to where Horatio stood with an awkward looking Walter, filling him in on what had happened. Walter's expression changed from one of shock and disgust, to a heartbreaking sadness. When Horatio told him of Kris Harper's fate, Walter nodded in fierce agreement; it was a sign of the strength of his and Ryan's friendship.

Molly was standing on the edge of Horatio and Walter's conversation looking small and lost. Eric flashed her a small, inviting smile, which she noticed and sat down beside him gratefully.

"So," Eric began awkwardly, "are you and Ryan an item?" He was only trying to be friendly, but as soon as Ryan's name was mentioned tears sprung into Molly's eyes.

"Sorry, sorry," she repeated, trying to regain control, "yeah, only since last night though . . ."

Eric tried to look interested as he spoke to Molly about Ryan, but for the most part his attention was fixed on the clock which hung on the wall of the waiting room. _How long has Ryan been in surgery for?_ He wondered desperately, knowing that the longer he was in for the poorer his chances were.

A door opened on one side of the room and a young nurse stepped out. She hurried over to a supply room and selected a small handful of equipment. Another woman appeared behind her and took the supplies off her.

"I'll take these, go and order another blood pack, he's bleeding out." She looked grimly at the younger nurse who nodded and rushed off.

"Wait, what's going on?" Eric shouted as she turned back towards the door.

"There's been . . . a complication."

"What kind of complication?" Eric asked the question they were all thinking with growing dread.

"I don't have time to explain. In five minutes we'll know if he's accepted the blood and we'll be able tell if he's going to make it." She reeled off the words like she had said them hundreds of time before. "Sorry." She sounded genuinely sad as she disappeared back into surgery.

The next five minutes seemed to Eric the longest in his life. Time passed agonisingly slow and tension hung thickly in the air. The CSIs sat in silence, none of them quite able to comprehend the startling reality which was threatening to crash down on top of them. A reality without Ryan.

The door swung open for a second time and Alexx stepped out. Time seemed to stand still as she peeled off a pair of blood drenched surgical gloves and deposited them in a bin just outside the door.

Alexx considered her words carefully and decided the team didn't need any of the preamble she usually gave patient's family members. She took a deep breath and started to speak. "He's going to be okay."

"Oh thank god." Natalia said weakly.

"I knew he'd pull through." Walter grinned in relief.

Alexx smiled. "He's going to be out of it for a while. I think you all need to get some rest."

Finally, the CSIs felt the full extent of their exhaustion, and Eric wondered how on earth he had managed to stay awake until that point.

"Thank you Alexx." Horatio placed an arm around his old friend and she clung to him tightly.

"I don't want to see another one of you turn up in my hospital unless it's for a social visit." Alexx said sternly, causing the rest of the team to laugh slightly hysterically in their relief.

"When will he wake up?" Calleigh asked.

"Honey, I promise you lot will be the first to know."

XXX

After ten minutes of small talk about the day's events, tiredness seemed to stake its claim on the CSIs and quietly Eric and Calleigh said their goodbyes and slipped away.

"What are you going to do now?" Calleigh asked Eric as they made their way down to the parking lot.

"I guess I'll sleep until the end of the week," Eric grinned, "what about you?"

"I like your plan." She giggled and yawned loudly.

"Did, uh, did you fancy a ride home?" Eric asked nervously.

"What about my car?"

"You can pick it up tomorrow; it's not going to go anywhere."

"Erm, sure okay. I'd like that." She smiled sweetly.

"Cal, if it would be easier, you could crash on my sofa?"

"Thanks, but I think I need my bed tonight."

"Oh, sure."

"Eric?" Calleigh stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. You've been great today; I don't know how I would have coped without you."

"Well I'm not going anywhere." Eric said gently.

"I know." Calleigh murmured as she slipped her hand into his.

XXX

Natalia sat alone in the waiting room, fully intending to stay there until Ryan woke up. About quarter of an hour after everyone else had left, a group of nurses wheeled Ryan past her to move him to a private room. He looked so peaceful as he lay in drug induced sleep. The blood and dirt and sweat had been cleaned from his face and if Natalia didn't already know otherwise, she would have guessed there was nothing wrong with him. As she stood to follow the gurney a voice sounded from the other end of the waiting room.

"Natalia!"

Natalia spun to find the source of the voice and saw Molly standing with two steaming polystyrene cups.

"Molly? What are you still doing her?"

"Same thing as you I guess," she smiled amicably and held out one of the cups, "I figured you'd still be here so I grabbed a coffee for you."

"Oh, err, thanks." Natalia felt totally caught off guard by this act of friendship. As much as she wanted to dislike the perky blonde, she found it harder and harder to reject her peace offers.

"Where are they taking Ryan?" Molly asked quietly.

"A private room I think."

"Are we allowed to go with him?"

"In theory, no. But Alexx can probably convince the nurses to let us sit outside."

Molly nodded and the two women took the elevator to the floor Ryan had been moved too.

"Do we need to call his family?" Molly wondered aloud.

"No, Horatio's already taken care of that. He has an uncle who lives nearby, but the rest of his family live out of state. They'll probably be here tomorrow evening at the earliest."

"Oh." Molly said shortly, realising how little she knew about the wonderful man she seemed to be falling for.

The two carried on walking in silence for a while. For her part, Molly was completely unaware of the feeling shared between Ryan and Natalia. In her mind she had spoken to Ryan about it and she had obviously been mistaken that there was something going on between them. She wasn't a jealous person and she simply accepted the two as close friends.

"That's his room." Natalia indicated to a door off the corridor they were walking down.

Inside Alexx was affixing Ryan's IV into his right arm. She walked around the bed and stroked down his hair, murmuring comforting sounds. Eventually she looked up and noticed Natalia and Molly who had taken seats outside the room.

"You two should be in bed." She accused as she left Ryan's room, although she knew full well why they weren't.

"There wouldn't be any point, there's no way I can sleep until I know Ryan's okay." Natalia declared.

Alexx sat down by Natalia. "He _is_ okay. You've had an awful day sweetie, go home." She pleaded.

"Nah-ah."

"Well I can't let you stay up here, either of you. Visiting hours don't start until nine am, that's in nearly five hours time." She shrugged.

"Come on Alexx . . . you can bend the rules if you _really_ want to." Natalia refused to admit defeat.

"I can maybe get one of you in for a few minutes. But you have to promise to leave after that, okay?"

Natalia and Molly nodded, both convinced they had the larger claim on Ryan.

"Which one?" Alexx asked.

"Well, I _am_ his girlfriend." Molly pointed out with a sideways glance at Natalia.

Natalia's jaw dropped. _That sneaky bitch! I do all the freaking legwork and then she thinks _she's _the one who can just waltz in and see him? I don't think so!_

Alexx noticed Natalia's outraged expression and she felt like she had a fairly good idea of Natalia's feelings for Ryan, even if Molly didn't.

"Maybe you can both go in." She said quickly before Natalia could voice her objections to Molly.

"Thank you Alexx." Molly gushed.

"Yeah." Natalia agreed tiredly, still seething under the surface of her calm demeanour.

Alexx opened Ryan's door and let the two women pass. "I mean it though, only a few minutes. And you better not make a sound." She warned.

Natalia knelt down by the side of Ryan's bed. "Hey Ry." She breathed, stroking his left hand.

Molly felt instantly awkward, like she was intruding on something private. She shrugged off the feeling. Ryan was _her_ boyfriend, if anything, it was Natalia who was intruding.

"You're a fool you know. I can't believe I let you out of my sight." Natalia voice was filled with regret and . . . love? Molly was sure she had misread it.

Ryan moaned in his sleep. "Nat."

"Yeah it's me. I'm here sweetie," she smiled weakly as tears slid slowly down her smooth caramel cheeks, "I'm here and it's going to be okay. You're safe Ry." Natalia lent over him and softly kissed his forehead.

"Natalia." Ryan smiled faintly before the sound of his soft snoring filed the room.

Alexx who had been standing quietly in the corner, took Molly's arm and indicated towards the door. "Let's let them have their moment, hey?" She asked the blonde, gazing towards Natalia and Ryan lovingly.

Molly allowed herself to be dragged from the room, trying to contemplate what was happening.

"He's my boyfriend." She whispered, her mouth going dry.

Alexx slid a compassionate arm around Molly. "Honey, we haven't met before so I guess you're new? Ryan and Natalia have . . . history. I don't know how you managed to get dragged into it, but theirs is a relationship it's just best to stay out of."

"They're just friends though." Molly said without conviction. She had seen the way Natalia had looked at Ryan just moments ago, there was no denying the love between them.

"That's what they think," Alexx sighed, "I'm sorry."

Molly shook her head causing her blonde hair to cascade out around her face. "He said there wasn't anything between them, I believe him." She turned from Alexx and stalked off down the hallway in denial. _I'll speak to him when he wakes up and he'll laugh at me for being so ridiculous,_ Molly thought with a smile. Ryan wasn't the kind of guy who would use her just to make somebody jealous; he would never intentionally hurt _anyone_.

Alexx watched her go sadly. Molly seemed like a nice girl but she was new to the lab, she hadn't seen all of the tiny exchanges between Ryan and Natalia and she had no idea of what she was stepping into the middle of.

She turned back to the room where Natalia was sitting beside Ryan and slowly pulled the door until it clicked shut. She loved the pair as if they were her own and if Natalia wanted to stay with Ryan until he woke up, then Alexx would see that it happened.

* * *

><p>Couple of things I wanted to mention. Firstly, I'm sorry if the MollyNatalia scene seems a bit catty, it wasn't meant to be. They aren't being petty and jealous, but they're both going through a really rough time right now which has obviously affected them, hope I managed to get that across. Secondly, I would have loved to write an in depth hospital scene but I know absolutely nothing about medicine so I just stuck to a couple of simple plot devices which I hope work okay. Erm that's all I think. Other than that I think this chapter turned out quite well :) Lemme know what you think!


	21. Chapter 21 Silently

Okay so chapter 20 got hardly any reviews ): I hope people still enjoyed it though. This chapter is slightly inspired by the song 'Silently' by Elliot Minor. Go listen to it before/while you read :) Haha.

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><p><em>As The Day Gets Older I Hear Your V<em>_oice,_

_Nothing Stays For Free, As T__he RaiN Keeps Falling,_

_I Hear You Calling My Name, And Some Will Say…_

_So Silently, You Make This Day,_

_So Unreal And Never Ending,_

_Standing On The Edge Believing,_

_That This Will Never End,_

_This Will Never End…_

_Silently, So Silently,_

_You'll Live For Me, So Silently._

Natalia awoke with a start, glancing around wildly trying to determine what had caused her to wake. Her eyes fixed on the sleeping form of her best friend, the man she loved. He was coughing weakly.

"Ryan?" She whispered softly. The hospital room was dark and the sky outside had a greyish hue which told her it wasn't quite morning. She looked down in the gloom at her watch, it was five thirty. "Ryan are you okay?" She injected more volume into her voice.

"Mmm." Came the sleepy reply, as Ryan's coughs subsided and the room fell quiet once more.

Natalia stood slowly, her back and legs ached from spending so long sitting down so she walked round to the other side of the bed. She couldn't remember falling asleep in the chair besides Ryan, but she had been so tired she realised it was probably inevitable.

Ryan was lying in a tangle of sheets, which he must have managed to push off while he slept. Natalia bit back a giggle and set about correcting the situation. As she drew the sheets up around Ryan's shoulders she leaned in and stole a quick kiss.

"I love you Ryan." She murmured gently, gazing down at his pale face.

XXX

Alexx had volunteered for overtime allowing her shift to be extended until six am, when the day staff would come to relieve those on night shifts. She hadn't had a busy night in terms of patients but there was always paperwork to be done around the hospital, and between that and the few patients she did have, Alexx realised she hadn't been up to check on Natalia more than once. She smiled, that had been at four and Natalia had been sound asleep on the chair besides Ryan, her hand still tightly wrapped around his. Alexx grabbed a coffee and hurried up to their floor.

Through the glass Alexx could see Natalia standing over Ryan, sorting out his sheets as he slept.

"Morning sweetie." She said, causing Natalia to flinch slightly.

Natalia whipped round to see their old ME standing smiling. "Oh Alexx, it's just you."

"Of course it's me, who else is crazy enough to be up at this hour?"

"Yeah, we are a bit crazy aren't we?" Natalia grinned, glad of the light conversation.

"Oh, we're not _that_ crazy. I'm getting paid, and you're in love." Alexx's smile was all knowing.

"What?" Natalia spluttered in shock.

Alexx just kept smiling at her. "Anyway," she said deliberately slowly, "my shift is nearly over, and I really would like for you to go home too and get some rest."

Natalia's gaze flickered to where Ryan lay. "I can't leave him Alexx."

Alexx shrugged. "Well it was worth a try. I won't be back until this afternoon, but if anything changes I want you to let me know. No other doctor is going to treat my baby." She said pointedly, before drawing Natalia into a warm hug.

XXX

At half past seven Natalia's cell phone started to ring. She rummaged through her purse for it and immediately rejected the call to stop the noise from waking Ryan. Flipping it open she read the caller ID, it was Calleigh. Natalia sighed and hit redial as she stepped out of Ryan's room.

"Hey Cal." She answered wearily.

"Natalia, how are you? How's Ryan?" Calleigh asked sharply.

"I'm fine, so is he . . . as far as I know anyway." She stole a quick glance back at Ryan.

"That's good. Look Nat, Alexx rang and said you'd been at the hospital all night . . . let me come and take you home?"

"Thanks, really; but I feel like I need to be here right now."

The other end was silent for a while. "If you're sure." Came Calleigh's eventual reply.

"I am." Natalia assured her friend.

"Okay, well Eric and I were planning to come visit mid morning, is there anything I can bring for you?"

Natalia looked down at the glitzy dress she was still wearing from the party and suddenly felt faintly ridiculous. "Some normal clothes would be nice." She laughed.

"Okay I'll see what I can find for you." Calleigh said cheerily before hanging up.

Natalia ventured quietly back into Ryan's room, where rays of sunlight were starting to spill in through the curtained windows. She nestled back down in her chair and sat listening to the steady and reassuring beep of Ryan's heart monitor.

XXX

Ryan decided he must be awake. He had been lying silently for a while, trying to determine where he was and what was making the strange beeping noise which seemed to fall in time with his heartbeats, and eventually he realised he was no longer dreaming.

Warily, Ryan opened his eyes and stared blearily around the small room he appeared to be in. As his surroundings slowly focussed, he caught sight of a beautiful woman dozing on a chair beside him. _Natalia? Aha, so I _am_ dreaming._ He thought; after all this was starting out the way most of his dreams did – him lying in bed with Natalia by his side . . .

But something was off about this particular dream. There was a strange stinging sensation in his right arm for one thing. Ryan looked down at himself and wondered why he was wearing clothes (in these dreams he almost _never_ was) and more to the point, why he was wearing a hospital gown. Almost without thinking, Ryan lifted his right hand to run through his hair.

"Fuck." He howled as pain ripped through his shoulder and coursed through his body. Suddenly the room appeared to be swimming in front of him and it took several deep, calming breaths before his vision began to clear.

"Ryan!" A voice screamed, and suddenly Natalia's face was hovering worriedly above his own.

"Hey Nat." Ryan grinned weakly, trying to ignore the agony in his shoulder.

"Oh my goodness I'm so sorry I fell asleep again." Natalia exclaimed angrily.

"S'kay." Ryan murmured.

Natalia's worried frown refused to dissipate. "How do you feel?"

"Is this a dream?" He asked hopefully.

Her frown deepened. "Ryan, can't you remember what happened?"

"I – wait what?"

"Ryan, look at me Ryan." Natalia placed her hands on either side of his head and pulled him to face her. Slowly his eyes had unfocussed and he tried to slip out of her grasp.

"It . . . it was all real?" Ryan asked, starting to shake as realisation caught up with him and the pain and horror of the previous evening crashed down hard on top of him.

"Oh Ryan." Natalia felt tears prick her eyes as she gathered up Ryan's weak form in her arms and hugged him with everything she had. "You're safe baby. You're safe and everything's okay now. I promise you."

Ryan didn't struggle; he just lay there encased in Natalia's arms, wondering how on earth he was still alive.

"How are you?" He finally managed to choke out, wondering what kind of hell Natalia had been through.

Natalia waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Ryan pointed out, knowing Natalia well enough at least to realise something was wrong, even if he couldn't tell whether it was emotionally or physically.

"I'm fine." She repeated stubbornly, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Nat –" Ryan began.

"Oh my god Ryan just drop it!" Natalia screamed unexpectedly.

Ryan flinched visibly at the outburst. "I just wanted to make sure you –"

"Make sure I'm okay?" Natalia yelled in his face. "Why wouldn't I be? After all I was the one who left you alone in that house while I got out safely. How could you do that to me Ryan? I trusted you! And you got yourself freaking poisoned! Why didn't you tell me? Did you think I couldn't help? Hmmm? Because I could have! And then none of this shit would have happened because I'd have been there with you!" Natalia finished in a high pitched tone with tears of anger and hurt pouring down her face.

Ryan lay looking slightly abashed, unsure of how to reply.

Natalia leaned in close towards Ryan. "So don't you dare ask _me_ how _I_ am. Because you've put us all through hell wondering about how _you_ are." Her minty breath fanned out across Ryan's face and for a second she actually thought she was going to slap him. Instead she did and abrupt turn and marched out of the room, slamming the door hard in her wake.

* * *

><p>Yikes Natalia is <em>not<em> a happy bunny O_o

If you did listen to the song, it's sort of relevant for the time when Ryan was asleep and Natalia was just watching him (i.e. before the start of this chapter) Let me know if it works!


	22. Chapter 22

Yay reviews were so much better for chapter 21 :D thank you guys! Also, note how quickly I've put up the next chapter xD *hint* Ahah.

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><p>Natalia stalked off down the corridor, already reason was starting to work its way through her anger and suddenly she felt like the worst person in the world. <em>Who treats somebody like that when they're in that condition?<em> Feelings of guilt were pricking at her, but her fury hadn't subsided enough to allow her to turn back and apologise. In truth, Natalia hadn't realised how much resentment she felt towards Ryan until her outburst, when all of her pent up emotions had risen to the surface. Natalia recalled the hurt and confused look on Ryan's face as she had left him, it was heartbreaking. But as bad a she felt for subjecting him to her rant, everything she had said had been true and she needed some space to cool off.

XXX

Ryan lay in his hospital bed numbly. He was utterly confused by Natalia's words and before he had had time to think of something to calm her down she had left, leaving the doorframe quivering from the force of her slam. He hoped in vain that she would march straight back in, but he knew Natalia better than that, her pride would never allow it even if she had wanted to.

Ryan sighed and gingerly lifted his left hand to his right shoulder; it was bound tightly in a multitude of thick bandages. He angled his head uncomfortably so he could inspect it and saw a crimson stain starting to spread out through the layers of bandages, it hadn't reached the top layer but it was only a matter of time before the wound would need redressing. Ryan sighed again. He ran a hand over his stomach feeling for more bandages, but instead found a series of tiny irregular ridges which told him both gashes had been neatly stitched.

A wave of exhaustion hit Ryan forcefully and within seconds the sounds of the early morning rounds of Doctors and nurses seemed to fade, leaving him in blissful slumber.

XXX

Ryan had been asleep for less than half an hour when a young nurse came in to redress his shoulder wound. It was his second visitor since Natalia had left. The first had been a Doctor who had explained Ryan's condition and what they had done for him in surgery. Ryan felt like he owed the hospital of lot of blood.

"Hey mate." The nurse called cheerily, causing Ryan to open his eyes slowly and regard the young man standing in front of him. "Sorry I didn't mean to wake you," the man continued, "but I need to take a quick look at your shoulder."

"Um . . . sure." Ryan mumbled, feeling sleepy and disorientated.

"My name's Mark," the man smiled, quickly swiping Ryan's chart from the foot of the bed and squinted down at it, "pleased to meet you . . . Ryan."

Mark's smile and positive demeanour were infectious and soon Ryan was grinning happily and talking to Mark as if he were an old friend.

"Ouch, this is one nasty looking wound." Mark winced as he removed the last of the bloody dressings.

"Yeah . . . the guy who did it was kind of messed up." Ryan bit his lip, why was he talking to his nurse about an active case?

The man winked. "Don't worry the ladies will love you when this starts to heal, you're going to have a beaut of a scar."

"Erm, speaking of which, I don't suppose anyone's been up here asking for me?" Ryan asked, hope tinging his voice.

"Oho yes. A pretty blonde woman. But visiting hours don't start until nine I told her," he glanced at his watch, "it's five to, I'll send her in when I'm done." He grinned.

"Thanks."

"So what's the deal with you and the brunette who was with you all night? We kind of have a staff bet as to why Dr Woods let her stay up here." He laughed guiltily.

"She was here all night?" Ryan asked, amazed. Had Natalia really stayed with him all that time just to be sure she'd be there to shout at him when he woke?

"Yup, didn't leave this room. I recon she has a thing for you, but some of the others thought she was your sister. No way is she your sister, am I right?"

"She's not my sister," Ryan assured, "but I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a thing for me . . . well she might have done, but I think I really upset her . . . sorry if that screws with your bet." He laughed humourlessly.

Mark shrugged. "If you say so mate, but she was definitely making eyes at you. Hold still while I clean it out." He instructed as he carefully and efficiently washed the wound.

Ryan winced and looked away, but did his best to keep his shoulder stationary. "Things between us . . . they're complicated." He sighed, still facing the opposite direction.

"Hah," Mark snorted, "that's women for you. Always like to keep you on your toes. And the blonde?" He asked curiously as he unwrapped the new dressings from their sterile packaging.

"She's my girlfriend."

"Really?" Mark sounded surprised. "Well no wonder things are complicated between you and the brunette." He looked knowingly at Ryan as he applied the new dressings.

"It isn't like that," Ryan sighed, but he couldn't keep the small guilty smile from his face, "well maybe it is. I don't know."

The young nurse laughed again as he gathered up the used dressings. "You are one confusing guy Ryan."

"Not as confusing as either of those two." He muttered darkly.

Mark slapped him on the back in a gesture of friendship. "I've got to see some of my other patients now, but I look forward to hearing the rest of your story," he winked, "you're dressings won't need to be changed until the afternoon but if you need me before then just press that button to send me a page." He gave Ryan a wave as he exited the room.

Seconds later Molly entered. She was dressed casually and was clutching a paper bag.

"Ryan!" She exclaimed in relief, flying to his side and kissing him hard.

"Hey Molly." Ryan grinned lopsidedly when she pulled away, feeling slightly flustered.

"How long have you been awake for? How are you feeling? Is there anything I can do for you?" The questions slipped from her mouth almost before she had registered them.

"Whoa I'm fine, you don't need to worry." Ryan stroked her face lovingly.

"Oh god Ryan, I was so scared." She blinked rapidly for several moments, fighting back tears which threatened to fall.

"I know you were." Ryan murmured comfortingly, holding her close and breathing in her scent.

After several long moments, Molly pulled away and grinned shakily. "Want to see what I brought you?" She asked, grabbing the large paper bag.

"Uh, sure." Ryan smiled happily, remembering how easy Molly was to be around. He was doing his best not to think about Natalia, and Molly appeared to be the perfect distraction.

Molly reached down into the bag and withdrew a large bunch of green grapes. "Ta-daaah." She laughed.

"Grapes?" Ryan raised an eyebrow, less than impressed.

"Ooooh." Molly whistled mockingly at Ryan's superior expression and broke down in giggles.

"What? What's so funny?" Ryan asked impatiently.

"It's a traditional gift for people in hospital," Molly chided, but she continued to tip the paper bag upside down and let a shower of candy RaiN down on Ryan's bed, "better?"

"_Way_ better." Ryan grinned, immediately grabbing one.

Molly watched affectionately as Ryan ate his way through the sweets she had brought for him. "I should have brought more." She commented with a smile.

Ryan nodded enthusiastically. "Maybe next time you come . . .?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

As Molly started to laugh the door swung open to reveal Natalia holding a tiny cardboard box.

"Nat!" Ryan grinned, sensing his opportunity to apologise.

"Oh," Natalia looked confusedly at Molly, then back at Ryan, "sorry guys I didn't mean to interrupt . . . I guess I'll come back later." She backed out of the room slowly, an unreadable expression plastered over her face.

"Hey Nat!" Ryan called, as Molly silently willed Natalia to leave her and Ryan in peace.

"Yeah?" Natalia's voice sounded small.

"Come in," Ryan begged, "I'm sorry Nat, I'm so sorry for what I did to you." His hazel eyes brimmed with sincerity as he gazed into the depths of her deep brown ones.

"I'm sorry for getting angry," she whispered, "I was so terrified for you Ry . . ."

"I was only trying to protect you." He said quietly, feeling his mouth go dry.

Tears streaked down Natalia's beautiful tan face. "I wouldn't have cared what happened to me."

"I care."

XXX

Molly was sat outside of Ryan's room when Eric and Calleigh arrived a couple of hours later.

"Hi Molly," Calleigh called, spotting the blonde, "is he still asleep?"

Molly lifted her face from where it was resting in her hands. "No, he's awake." She sighed.

"Oh," Calleigh paused, "why are you out here then?"

Molly shook her head and cast a dark look at the door. "He's talking to Natalia."

Calleigh shot Eric knowing look, and he grinned back at her. "About time." He muttered.

"About time for what?" Molly asked sharply.

"Huh? Oh . . . nothing." Eric replied, sounding embarrassed.

"Right." Molly stared dejectedly down at the floor.

Calleigh glared angrily at Eric and jabbed him with her elbow. 'What?' he mouthed at her.

She looked pointedly at Molly and back to Eric. 'Stop being so insensitive!' She mouthed back.

Eric shrugged and opened the door to Ryan's room. "How you feeling man?"

Ryan looked up and a huge grin broke out on his face. "I'm feeling better," he shot his IV a suspicious look, "high as a kite, but definitely better."

Laughter broke out across the room as the four friends finally realised that they were no longer in trouble, and the group fell into a comfortable conversation about their respective dealings with Kris Harper.

"I know he was crazy, and I know what he did to me," Ryan said sombrely, changing the mood of the room, "but there's a part of me that doesn't think he was such a bad guy." Eric, Calleigh and Natalia gazed sadly at Ryan.

"No guys hear me out," Ryan insisted, "it was for his family. I mean, I think of you guys and there's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I just . . . wish Horatio hadn't . . ."

"Ryan," Calleigh said sympathetically, "he didn't have a choice, the guy was pointing his gun straight at you."

"Yeah . . . I know that." He said, though he still looked unhappy.

"What's Molly doing outside man?" Eric asked, to change the subject.

"Huh? Molly?"

"Yeah, the blonde trace tech." Eric chided him.

"She said she had to leave." Ryan mumbled, sounding confused.

"Well she's sitting right outside." Eric informed him.

Ryan shook his head, trying to clear the mist which seemed to have formed. He couldn't deal with the Molly/Natalia situation right now. He felt broken, as if he had been torn apart by the events of the previous evening, and his friends were the only things keeping him sane. He had enjoyed Molly's company, as he was enjoying Natalia's now, but it didn't mean anything to him at that moment. He couldn't be there for somebody else, not when he barely felt like he was there for himself. He knew that soon there would come a point where he would have to make a decision (though deep down he knew he had already made it) but he wouldn't be pressured into it while he felt as he did. For now all he wanted was to keep the two as friends, and everything else would have to come later.

* * *

><p>Well (as always) I hope everyone enjoyed :D So quick question, how much more do people wanna read? Because the main plot has been pretty much tied up so if people are getting bored, I'll end it soon, but if people want me to continue a bit longer I'm sure I can drag out Ryan's recovery etc.<p>

Now go and review please ;D Ahaha.


	23. Chapter 23

This is a fairly short chapter, but I figured people would prefer a short one rather than have to wait a couple of days more for a longer one xD am I right?

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><p>At around one o'clock Calleigh eventually managed to convince Natalia to come with her to get some food.<p>

"Eugh," Natalia sighed, "hospital food is awful."

"Thanks a lot." Ryan muttered darkly.

Calleigh laughed. "There's a café just across the road from here, come on Nat you don't have a choice in this." She grabbed Natalia's arm despite her protests and dragged her out of the room.

"So . . ." Eric said awkwardly.

"You're going to ask about Molly aren't you?" Ryan guessed perceptively.

"Well yeah . . . dude what's going on with you?" Eric sounded concerned.

"Can we talk about it some other time?" Ryan asked, a pleading look appearing in his eyes.

Eric shrugged. "Sure. I just thought you might need someone to talk to about it. You know . . . someone that isn't female." He smiled in a gesture of friendship which touched Ryan right to the core. He knew he hadn't always been Eric's favourite team member, but ever so slowly they seemed to have stumbled across a friendship they were both comfortable with.

"Thanks Eric. But I'd really rather _you_ told _me_ about what's going on between you and Calleigh." He switched topics casually.

"Oh, so that's how you're going to be," Eric said with a laugh, "to be honest with you, I don't have a clue." His smile dimmed as Ryan's brightened.

"Well from the point of view of an innocent and unbiased bystander –" Ryan began but was cut off by Eric's snigger.

"_Innocent and unbiased bystander,_" he mimicked through his snorts of laughter, "you're the biggest gossip in the lab!"

"Well fine, I won't tell you how perfect I think you two are for each other then." Ryan exclaimed haughtily.

Eric's eyes spaced out as he replied. "So did I . . . but lately there's just been a rift between us, like I can't get through to her. But last night . . ." he remembered, "last night it wasn't there and we just . . . felt right . . . together."

"That's because you are!" Ryan urged with enthusiasm, causing Eric to focus back on his hospitalised friend.

"Yeah, well we'll just see what happens I guess." He smiled happily.

XXX

Calleigh had successfully managed to steer Natalia into a booth near the back of the busy café and was waiting to place their order. She glanced back at where she had left Natalia and sighed at her tired and washed out appearance. _Even Ryan looks healthier than she does right now, _Calleigh thought with another sigh.

After ordering Calleigh rejoined Natalia, who was leaning on the table with her head in her hands.

"Natalia," Calleigh spoke tentatively, "you should really get some sleep."

Natalia peered up at her friend through bleary eyes and yawned. "Not tired." She said in a monotone voice.

Calleigh raised an eyebrow, obviously unimpressed by Natalia's answer. "Yeah and you don't look it." She drawled sarcastically.

Natalia opened her mouth several times, but whatever she had been about to say obviously didn't cut it because in the end she chose to remain silent.

"Aha," Calleigh nodded triumphantly, "no response is as good as you asking me for a lift home. Which of course I will be more than happy to provide."

Natalia's head slumped in defeat. "Thanks Cal." She said in a small voice.

Calleigh reached over the table to give Natalia and awkward semi-hug. "I know it's hard Nat. But you're going to cope and Ryan's going to cope." She assured, squeezing the brunette tightly before sitting back.

"Where did Molly go anyway? I though you said she was outside Ryan's room but I didn't see her when we left." Natalia commented, more to have something to say than out of any real desire to have the question answered.

Calleigh shrugged. "Maybe she got bored of waiting . . . what happened between you three before Eric and I arrived?"

Natalia grimaced. "I came up to apologise to Ryan about . . . some things I said earlier, and then as we made up Molly just stormed out." She tried to sound confused about the situation, but she remembered the way she had been looking at Ryan, there was no way Molly could have missed the love she felt for him. _And possibly the love he feels for me? _She though both guiltily and hopefully.

Calleigh just smiled as though she had read Natalia's thoughts. "You were that obvious huh?"

"We're just friends . . ." Natalia defended herself rather lamely.

"But if you had it your way?"

Natalia hesitated and flushed. "He has a girlfriend, there's not a lot I can do . . . that's assuming I would want to."

"Oh give over Nat. Ryan's been in love with you since the moment he met you." Natalia half choked on her drink and Calleigh held up her hands innocently. "What? I'm just saying."

XXX

Molly was sat in her car in the hospital's parking lot, fingering her keys as she tried to decide what she should do. Ryan and Natalia's exchange had been one of the most awful things she had ever experienced and she had stormed out only to hide the tears which had started to fall thick and fast. _Ryan didn't even notice I was upset,_ she thought bitterly, _he only had eyes for Natalia. _After she had left she had – naively, she conceded – though Natalia would come straight out carrying Ryan's apology, and once again the issue of him and Natalia would be glossed over. But she had sat and waited for a good few hours before Calleigh and Eric had shown up, when she finally decided she was wasting her time.

A small part of Molly told her that her whole relationship with Ryan was a waste of time. As much as she had tried not to, she couldn't help but remember the way Natalia had spoken to him when he had come out of surgery. Her soft tones had spoken of a bond between the two so deep it made Molly wonder whether she would ever truly be able to call Ryan her own . . . whether he could ever belong to any woman who wasn't Natalia Boa Vista.

XXX

Eric had left Ryan for a couple of minutes to go and grab coffee. Ryan waited for his return feeling slightly dismayed by the fact his nurse had just popped in to tell Eric that coffee was strictly off limits to him at the moment. Ryan sighed, like he wasn't being pumped full of enough drugs as it was . . . what difference would added caffeine make?

He sighed angrily. His shoulder was starting to itch beneath the mountain of dressing and his head was throbbing painfully, but try as he might he couldn't seem to get comfy enough to doze back off and forget all of his troubles, even for a short time. _What good are drugs if they still leave me feeling crap?_

A sharp rap came from his door.

"What?" Ryan snapped irritably, taking out his annoyance on whoever had chosen to disturb him.

"It's Molly . . . can I come in?"

"Sure, whatever." Ryan called impatiently.

The door swung open to reveal Molly. "I . . . uh Ryan, can we talk?" She asked, sounding a little unsure of herself.

Ryan froze, unable to deal with giving what Molly wanted from him.

"Erm, okay then I guess I'll talk. Ryan I've said this before, you're an amazing guy."

"But?" Ryan whispered, tears of distress and uncertainty gathering in the corners of his eyes and blurring his vision. In his whole life, Ryan had never felt more unstable and now with one quick question Molly was about to destroy all of the temporary calm he had created for himself.

"But you're in love with Natalia." Molly stated, shocked by her own words.

That was the final straw for Ryan and tears began to pour, unchecked down his smooth pale cheeks. He could barely think straight enough to comprehend how he was still alive, barely begin to sort out what exactly he had been through with Kris in that warehouse. Who he wanted to pursue romantically was so far down on his list of priorities he could barely even register what Molly had just said to him.

"Molly, not now." He begged, choking on his own tears as his shoulders shook his weak body.

Molly's mouth formed an 'o' as she did nothing but watch as this strong, intelligent man before her started to break.

* * *

><p>Yikes Molly? O_o What have you done? Poor Molly, she just wants to figure out if she's a pawn in Ryan and Natalia's epic battle for love, but still . . . way to kick a guy when he's down!<p>

Ahah also I haven't forgotten about Walter and Horatio . . . well maybe I did, but I've remembered them again now :D so I don't quite know how to work it i yet, but I feel those two should definitely have a scene with our lovely fallen CSI. Good idea? Everyone's opinions are very much appreciated!


	24. Chapter 24

Yikes, chapter 24? I'm actually amazed I've amassed so many chapters :P Sorry I've taken so long getting this one posted, I am really not liking it . . . I hope you don't find it too awful :S Ahahah.

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><p>Eric whistled tunelessly to himself as he made his way back up to Ryan's hospital room. He was carrying a polystyrene cup of unsavoury looking watery coffee which, truth be told, he didn't think Ryan would drink even if he had been allowed. Eric was secretly pleased by Ryan's moaning, any ability to joke after being put through what Ryan had (no matter how lame his jokes were) had to be a good sign. Eric remembered back to the last time he had been in hospital fighting for his life, even after he had been told he was physically fine, there had been so much emotionally he had had struggled to overcome.<p>

Eric rounded the last corner on his way to Ryan's room and realised his friends door was wide open. As he approached he saw a blonde figure standing in the doorway, Molly?

"Ryan . . . ?" Eric heard her say hesitantly, her voice catching slightly. Eric frowned and made to move away from the open door to give the two some privacy, but before he had taken two steps a heart wrenching sob escaped from Ryan.

In a flash Eric had tightly grabbed Molly's arm and pulled her out of the room. He stared at her bewildered face as Ryan's sobs echoed loudly down the corridor.

"What did you say to him?" Eric hissed angrily. For a moment he wondered if he had been too harsh in his tone, _maybe it has nothing to do with Molly . . . maybe I should have given her the benefit of the doubt?_

"I just needed to know how he feels about Natalia." Molly's reply was defensive, but it was obvious that she had been just as startled by Ryan's reaction as Eric.

"How he feels about Natalia?" Eric asked slowly, as if he were trying to understand a complex problem. "Molly he nearly died less than twenty four hours ago, do you even think he knows himself right now?" He growled, causing Molly to recoil.

"I . . . I didn't –"

"You didn't think? Did you?" Eric demanded.

"No." Molly admitted, her voice barely audible.

XXX

Mark had finished the first round of his patients early and was on his way to the break room when he heard angry voices.

"Whoa, whoa." He cried, holding up his hands in a calming gesture.

The pretty blonde woman who had been waiting to see one of his patients earlier was staring shamefacedly down at the ground, while a tall man next to her glanced up looking angry at having been disturbed.

"Look we were just talking." The tall man said, rather aggressively.

"Yeah . . . just keep it down guys okay?" Mark smiled amicably.

"Sure," the man waved a hand dismissively and turned back to the blonde, "I can't believe you Molly." He spat.

Mark sighed. "Okay guys that's it, I'm going to have to ask you to take your disagreement someplace else."

The blonde looked distraught. "I just need to apologise to someone . . ." She whispered miserably.

"Too freaking right." The man agreed.

Mark shook his head, noticing for the first time the distressing cries floating out from one of his patient's rooms. "I'm sorry but I'll need to go and check on him first." He shrugged at the pair's unimpressed faces and turned towards the room, wondering what on earth was going on.

XXX

Ryan hadn't even realised he had started to cry. Around him the hospital seemed to fade until he felt more alone than he had ever done in his life. Not that he was a stranger to being alone.

Pain tore through him, not physical pain, but emotional pain which managed to touch every scar he had and brought old hurts he though were long buried rushing back to the surface. He remembered how he felt when he first joined the lab, how lonely he had been trying to compete with a dead man who could do no wrong. How Natalia had rejected him, crushed him with her want to be 'just friends'. How he had been fired, lost the only thing in his life he was good at for an addiction which had spiralled out of control. Eric and Calleigh, so willing to believe he had had a hand in Horatio's 'murder'. The Russians. Jesse's death. Natalia's kidnapping.

_His_ kidnapping.

The thoughts flew around in his mind, refusing to be suppressed. For the first time Ryan was aware of a salty taste in his mouth. _I'm crying?_ He thought, feeling a certain detachment from his body. Somebody was speaking to him in low comforting tones but Ryan felt too far away from this man to hear, to understand.

_Where's Molly?_ The words dominated his mind as the haze of memories retreated temporarily. _How do I reply to her? The truth? That Natalia is all I've ever wanted? Is that even true anymore? What do I want?_

"I want Nat!" He didn't realise he was about to speak until the words escaped from his lips amongst his sobs.

"Sure, sure I'll ask somebody to fetch her." A kind voice was saying, cutting through Ryan's thoughts.

Ryan nodded, trying to communicate that he had heard as he felt himself begin to retreat back to his own personal hell his mind had conjured up for him.

XXX

Natalia and Calleigh had just finished their small lunch and Natalia leaned back, rolling her neck where it had begun to cramp from spending all day sitting down.

"So we'll walk back up to the hospital, grab the stuff you left in Ryan's room and then I'm taking you home okay?" Calleigh asked, probing to see whether Natalia had meant her words earlier.

Natalia rolled her eyes and laughed. "You're so obvious," she commented, "yeah I'll come with you gracefully."

Natalia's cell phone started to ring and she scrambled through the contents of her small bag to find it.

"Huh. It's Eric." She sounded confused as she answered the call. Calleigh felt a tiny twinge of jealousy run through her as she wondered why Eric had chosen to call Natalia and not her, but she brushed it off. Eric was no longer her boyfriend, she couldn't stop him getting close to other women.

Calleigh drifting thoughts about Eric were interrupted when Natalia abruptly snapped her phone shut.

"What did he want?" Calleigh asked absently.

"He said Ryan's having some sort of mental collapse, he asked for me." Calleigh could tell by the way Natalia's voice trembled that Eric must have been very assertive on the phone and she stood immediately to follow Natalia out.

XXX

As soon as Calleigh and Natalia stepped out of the elevator Natalia rushed off at full speed towards Ryan's room. Calleigh sighed and quickened her pace to keep up with her friend, who promptly entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"What's going on?" She demanded, looking confusedly at Eric and Molly who were sitting outside Ryan's room.

Eric glared daggers at Molly. "She tipped him over the edge."

"I didn't realise what I said would . . . have that effect." Molly bowed her head and her long golden hair swung forwards, obscuring her face.

"What did you say?" Calleigh asked sharply.

"She asked him if he was in love with Natalia." Eric answered when Molly was silent.

"I asked him if he had _feelings _for her." Molly corrected Eric.

"Yeah, well whatever you said it was enough to make him lose it." Eric growled.

"Is he going to be okay?" Calleigh asked in a voice tinged with worry.

Eric shrugged. "I guess so. He just needs his _friends _about to support him." His last comment was directed at Molly.

"Eric I made a mistake, can't you let it go?"

"No, and do you know why? I know what it's like to stare death in the face and all you fucking want is people to be there for you, you're trying so hard to pull yourself together you need everything you can get. There's no way I could have reassured anyone about anything when I got shot." Eric trailed off, his anger dissipating due to his introspection.

Calleigh looked shocked by Eric's outburst, she had never realised until now that Eric still carried emotional scars from that day. Cautiously, she reached out a comforting hand towards his, which he grasped tightly. His eyes met hers as they took comfort in their unspoken love.

XXX

"Ryan!" Natalia gasped as the door swung shut behind her.

"Shh," Natalia whipped round to see a young man in nurse's scrubs sitting by the end of the bed, "you have to be a calming influence." He explained.

"Is . . . is he okay?" Natalia whispered, glancing at Ryan who was whimpering quietly.

"Yeah he'll be fine. It's common for people in his condition to experience the emotional trauma sometime after the physical. All you can do is be there for him." The man smiled and stood to leave.

"You're going?" Natalia asked, surprised.

He nodded. "He seemed to want to speak to you; I'll probably just get in the way." He winked at Natalia before leaving.

Natalia sat down beside Ryan and stroked his hair gently. "Oh Ryan." She murmured sadly.

"Natalia?" Came Ryan's weak voice as his tears subsided.

"Mhm, it's me. How you doing?" She asked, trying to force cheeriness into her tone.

Ryan gasped for air and his eyes widened as another memory hit him. He struggled for several moments to force his eyes shut and calm his breathing, before replying. "Not great." He smiled wanly.

"Well I'm staying here until you can look me in the eye and tell me you feel wonderful." Natalia said decisively.

"Thanks Nat," Ryan's eyes lit up slightly, "I love you."

* * *

><p>Well you've survived through it then :P I promise promise promise that the next chapter will be up soon and to a MUCH higher quality :) feel free to PM me with a poke if I am taking my time with it :P ;)<p>

Thank you for reading! You guys rock!


	25. Chapter 25

Sooooo . . . Ryan finally told Natalia he loves her. Wanna see what happens next? Read away :D

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><p><em>"Thanks Nat," Ryan's eyes lit up slightly, "I love you."<em>

Natalia's face whipped round until she was staring Ryan dead in the eye. A jumble of thoughts tore round in her head, causing her to wonder whether he had even meant his words,_ after all he's not exactly thinking straight,_ Natalia thought to herself, _and besides, even if he is, he might not mean it in the way you hope. _Her mind drifted back to two nights ago when he had started a sentence in the same way only to end with 'as a friend'.

She took a deep breath and took the plunge, knowing full well it could spell the end of an amazing friendship.

"Ryan . . . I love you too." Her words came out in a strangled whisper, despite her determination to say them.

"Mmm." Ryan murmured, the light was fading rapidly from his eyes and despite the fact that he had opened his mouth to speak, no coherent words came out. Within seconds his eyelids flickered shut and his breathing became more regular. Natalia noticed a contented smile playing around the corners of his perfect lips; it was all the confirmation she needed.

"You sleep well now Ry."

XXX

Calleigh, Eric and Molly sat waiting outside Ryan's hospital room. Calleigh and Eric were holding hands and Eric's head was rested gently on top of her glossy blonde hair. Molly sat slightly away from the pair, looking more than a little awkward as she scrolled through the recent messages on her phone. The trio looked slightly like they were in high school, waiting outside the Principal's office.

"It's gone quiet." Calleigh commented, referring to Ryan's sobs which had previously carried out into the corridor where they sat.

"Yeah, I guess Natalia managed to calm him down." Eric smiled slightly, knowing that his trust in Natalia's love for Ryan wasn't misplaced.

Calleigh sighed. "Indeed."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Eric asked, perplexed by Calleigh's frustrated tone. His smile remained fixed on his face as he remembered all of Calleigh's strange quirks, and how he would laugh every time she explained to him a theory which only made perfect sense inside her amazing mind, and how he would pat her head lovingly (and maybe a little condescendingly) and tell her he didn't mind that she was a bit odd, he'd always love her. Eric's smile dimmed as he realised how many of his promises he had broken.

"Well yes," Calleigh's voice cut through his meandering thoughts, "but it means Natalia won't even think about letting me take her home now." She rolled her eyes.

Eric smirked. "She's smitten Cal, even _I_ can see that."

"I suppose she is." Calleigh replied, affording a quick grin.

"Ahem," Molly coughed falsely, "I, uh, I think I'll go grab some coffee, either of you want some bringing up . . . ?" Molly had barely finished her words when she turned suddenly and bolted towards the elevator at the end of the corridor in a desperate attempt to keep her two co-workers from seeing how upset she was.

"I forgot she was there," Calleigh whispered guiltily, "she'd been so quiet."

Eric shrugged. "Well even if Ryan doesn't have the balls at the moment to man up and tell her he loves Natalia, at least she knows now." He said indifferently.

"Eric!" Calleigh exclaimed, looking pointedly at him in what was definitely supposed to be anger.

All Eric saw however, was a small frown and a cute pucker of her lips, he grinned. "What? You know it's true."

"Ugh, you're such a _guy_. Her boyfriend's just recovering from life threatening injuries, the last think she wants to hear is that another woman's doing the job of cheering him up. Plus we don't even know for sure if Ryan and Natalia actually like each other."

"Oh come off it Cal. You know as well as me that those two would be a great couple. I catch Ryan mooning over Natalia at least once a day." Eric winked.

Calleigh's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Natalia's the same," she giggled, "'Ryan this' 'Ryan that'. She sounds almost like I used to sound before we . . ." She trailed off mid-sentence, afraid of bringing back memories both pretended to forget when they were around each other.

"Yeah, well let's hope they realise it." Eric smiled, glossing over Calleigh's slip like as if it had never happened.

XXX

Natalia stepped out of Ryan's room and carefully swung the door shut, trying to make as little sound as possible.

"Hey Nat." Calleigh's sunny voice said from behind her. Natalia spun to see Eric and Calleigh sitting together by the door; their interlaced fingers did not go unmissed by Natalia.

"Hi, sorry I took off like that." Natalia said apologetically.

"It's not a problem," Calleigh smiled, "and I suppose you won't be taking me up on that lift now either?"

Natalia shook her head. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm needed here." Another yawn escaped her lips as she struggled to stave of tiredness. She had had precious few hours of sleep in the early morning, and that stacked on top of the previous day's awful evening, was definitely starting to take it's toll on her both physically and mentally. _Still, it's a tiny price to pay for having Ryan safely back._

"I thought you'd say that." Calleigh looked distinctly unimpressed, but Natalia knew her friend understood her reasons for staying.

"His family should be here later in the evening, I'll leave when they get here." Natalia tried to compromise.

"Hah, I'll hold you to that." Calleigh joked.

"How's Ryan doing?" Eric asked, speaking for the first time.

Natalia's cheeks turned a rosy pink as she replied. "He's doing . . . better. He was asleep when I left him."

"Why did he ask for you?" Eric had a feeling he already knew the answer, though he was curious to see how Natalia answered.

"Erm," Natalia hesitated, "he just . . . just wanted . . . you know what guys ask me tomorrow." She finished, unsure of what she should tell them.

"Oho we will." Eric smirked.

XXX

Molly stepped out of the lift onto the ground floor of the hospital, clawing at her eyes uselessly as her tears seemed impossible to stem. _Oh god Molly. Everyone knows your boyfriend loves somebody else, why can't you just accept it and move on? _She thought desperately, despite the fact that she was still clinging to the hope that somehow she had misunderstood Eric's earlier words; 'she's smitten Cal, even _I_ can see that', somehow she found it hard to spin another meaning onto what he had said. _How come _I_ didn't see it? _The though floated miserably into her head. _You did see it! You just didn't want to. This isn't your fault Molly, you gave him every opportunity to tell you and he lied. How were you supposed to know any better? _Molly's tears poured harder than before, if it were possible. She knew she should be angry at Ryan, after all she had asked him outright if she was stepping in the middle of him and Natalia and he had said no. But the simple fact remained that she wasn't angry in the slightest, at least not with Ryan; instead she was furious at herself for being so trusting and naïve.

Suddenly Molly felt herself collide with something, or someone. "Oh gosh I'm so sorry." She apologised.

"That's okay honey, are you alright?" A kind voice asked her.

Molly looked up through tear filled eyes and saw a familiar face swimming before her. "Dr Woods?" She muttered in surprise.

"Yeah that's me. It's Molly isn't it?" Molly nodded slowly. "Why are you crying Molly?"

Molly took a deep breath, unsure of what to tell this kind woman. On the one hand Molly recognised the understanding which blazed in Alexx's eyes, but on the other she knew that she cared fiercely for both Ryan and Natalia, and Molly was unsure how she would react.

"It's okay honey, if one of those CSIs has upset you, you can still talk to me about it." Alexx smiled, seeing straight to the heart of the problem. It was all the encouragement Molly needed to spill her heart out.

Alexx listened quietly to Molly's account, nodding when it was required of her. She could understand exactly why Molly was upset, and yet it filled her with immense happiness to think that Ryan and Natalia might actually have realised they have each other.

"Okay Molly, here's what I want you to do. I want you to go home and let me deal with Ryan and Natalia. Don't you worry about them alright? If for any reason you're needed here I promise I'll let you know." She smiled warmly again at the young blonde, whose sobs had receded to the occasional sniffle.

Molly nodded. "Thanks Dr Woods." She smiled shakily.

"You can call me Alexx," she smiled, "now go any find something to cheer yourself up, I promise you no man is worth you getting _this _upset over. Not even Ryan Wolfe."

Molly hugged the old ME impulsively and left, feeling, if still not happy about the situation, much more accepting of it.

Alexx smiled to herself as she went to check on her first patient of her shift. _Time to find out Ryan's side of the story._

XXX

Alexx called in at the nurse's station on her way up to Ryan's room to check all of his paperwork.

"Hey Mark," she called over the nurse who had been checking on Ryan all day, "what's this note mean?" She frowned at the nurse's cramped handwriting which she could barely make out.

"Oh, the cop? He kind of had a breakdown this afternoon, but he's fine now. I went to check on him not long ago and he was asleep. The brunette he likes seemed to help calm him down."

"A breakdown?" Alexx asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah, like the emotional trauma catching up on him, I guess," Mark shrugged, "like I said, he seems to be okay again now."

"Hmm, okay thanks." Alexx called as she carried on towards Ryan's room. As she neared it, animated voices floated down the corridor towards her. _Eric, Calleigh and Natalia,_ she smiled.

"Evening." She called cheerily.

"Hi Alexx." The three chorused, before breaking down in laughter.

"How's Ryan doing?" Alexx asked in a concerned voice.

"He's sleeping," Natalia said, "he wasn't too great earlier though." She pulled a face.

"I heard. Well I suppose I'll go in and see if he's woken up yet." Alexx smiled at the three.

XXX

Ryan had been dozing fitfully for the past few hours. He was feeling fairly stupid now about his outburst, having had time to untangle his emotions and bury them again. He could vaguely remember Natalia coming in to see him before he had dropped off and he could recall saying something which had seemed hugely important, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was. As he pushed his memory back to the hazy period between wakefulness and sleep, the door to his room creaked open slowly.

"Hey baby, how are you doing?" Said a disembodied voice, before Alexx appeared in the doorway.

"Hi Alexx," Ryan grinned, "I feel better now." He had a feeling Alexx would already know about what had happened earlier, somehow that woman always found out about everything.

"Hmmm, well I'll be the judge of that," Alexx smiled as she consulted his paperwork, "so tell me about what happened with Molly."

"With Molly?" Ryan's brow furrowed in confusion.

"She was pretty upset when I ran into her downstairs." Alexx noted.

"Ohh . . . well she asked me if I had feeling for Natalia . . ." Ryan trailed off.

"And? What did you tell her?"

"Erm, I asked her if we could not have that conversation at that time. Seeing as I'm already a bit messed up here." Ryan shrugged.

"Hmm, do you have feeing for Natalia?" Alexx asked absently, already knowing the answer.

Ryan's cheeks flared crimson. "Alexx I have a girlfriend." He said weakly.

"Well I'm pretty sure you don't anymore," she said flatly, "and stop avoiding the question. Do you? Or don't you?"

"I think . . . I think I do." Ryan admitted.

Alexx grinned triumphantly, having extracted the confession she required.

* * *

><p>This hasn't been beta'd (my beta is 'down the pub' and I wanted to get this posted asap :P) so feel free to point out all my typinggrammar errors :P

Poor Molly . . . wouldn't _you _be upset if you found out Ryan didn't love you? . . . Yeah that's what I thought! Ahaha.

So how's Natalia gonna react when she fings out Ryan forgot (?) he told her he loves her? I'm thinking it's all gonna work out in the end . . . RaiN always works out well! 3


	26. Chapter 26

Sooooo . . . MAYDAY! OMG! I'm totally freaking out xD

* * *

><p>Alexx stepped out of Ryan's small hospital room at around seven. She glanced over to where Calleigh, Eric and Natalia were sitting, and noticed a recent addition to their ranks.<p>

"Horatio." She grinned with delight.

Horatio flashed her one of his rare, warm smiles. "Good evening Alexx. I thought I'd stop off on my way back from the lab to see how Mr Wolfe is getting on."

Alexx narrowed her eyes. "Horatio are you telling me that you gave all your CSIs the day off, and you still went into the lab?" She sounded thoroughly unimpressed, and while the three seated CSIs hid smirks in their hands, Horatio took a wary step back from the old ME.

"Mhm, there was some paperwork I needed to sort out." He answered noncommittally.

Alexx's hands flew to her hips as she continued to eye Horatio dangerously, but she chose not to comment further. "Ryan's doing fine. In fact he's awake now," she held up a hand as the three CSIs and their boss looked eagerly towards the closed door, "but I don't want all four of you in there at once bombarding him with questions. Poor baby needs to relax."

Calleigh glanced at Eric and he nodded at her before she had even found the words she wanted to speak.

"Me and Calleigh have already spoken to him today so we'll probably take off now." He yawned loudly.

Alexx looked questioningly at Calleigh, surprised Eric had spoken for her. "Yeah I should be off too," Calleigh said, "would someone tell Ryan I'll swing by tomorrow?"

Natalia nodded. "Sure." She smiled gratefully at her friend, the reason Calleigh and Eric had relinquished their claim to see Ryan before visiting hours closed had not been lost on Natalia.

Calleigh and Eric said their goodbyes and the pair left together.

"Well well well." Was all Alexx said, having not seen the team for a while she had assumed Eric and Calleigh's relationship was properly over, but the lack of surprise on both Horatio and Natalia's faces told her otherwise.

"Indeed." Horatio said simply.

Alexx smiled widely, although she worried about them and (like every mother) thought she knew what was best for them, it seemed to her like finally the team was learning to look after itself without her.

XXX

Horatio entered Ryan's room alone. Natalia had asked whether she could speak to Ryan privately before his family arrived and so Alexx had sent Horatio in first.

As Horatio regarded his injured CSI staring dazedly up at the ceiling, he could feel guilt crashing over him once more. Even though Ryan was no longer new or young, Horatio couldn't help viewing him as his most vulnerable team member. Between nail-guns, Erica Sykes, gambling debts, and Russian Mobsters, Ryan, it seemed, always managed to end up in trouble.

"Hey H." Ryan said quietly, startling Horatio out of his reflection.

"Mr Wolfe," Horatio smiled, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that it was his fault his CSI had nearly lost his life, "how are you feeling?"

Ryan rolled his eyes. "I'm sure I've answered that question at least a million times already today." He laughed.

Horatio's smile flickered and his expression turned serious as he sat down next to Ryan. "Mr Wolfe, did you know that IAB are expecting a full statement from you by the end of the week?"

"IAB?" Ryan groaned, knowing he should have seen their investigation coming.

"I'm afraid so," Horatio said, the distaste on his face mirroring Ryan's, "Mr Harper was killed during the gunfight and you were heavily wounded." Horatio reminded him.

Ryan nodded uneasily. "I'm not in trouble am I?"

Horatio's expression softened. "I am confident you acted appropriately according to your . . . circumstances." He assured.

"I split up with my partner." Ryan reminded his boss of the most fundamental rule of undercover work.

"Mr Wolfe, you don't need to worry about anything. I'm going to sort it." Compassion danced in Horatio's bright blue eyes.

"Horatio," Ryan spoke suddenly as a memory rushed back to him, "when I was talking to Kris . . . Mr Harper, he said he hadn't acted alone." He cursed himself in his mind for forgetting such a crucial detail to the case. _For goodness sake Wolfe, you're a CSI!_

"We may be CSIs, but foremost, we are all human." Horatio said wisely as if in response to Ryan's unspoken thoughts.

"H," Ryan said in a strangled tone, "they could be anywhere by now!" Panic was starting to seep into his voice.

Horatio held out a calming hand and smiled gently. "I don't pretend to know what Mr Harper spoke about to you, but I would guess it's very similar to what his brother told Frank and Eric yesterday. Daniel Harper has been arrested along with Edward Guevara, his Cuban PA who was not only involved in the trafficking of woman, but also guns."

Ryan flopped back onto the pillows behind him. "Yeah I think they were the only accomplices." He sighed in relief. "What about all of the women they 'sold'?" Ryan asked sadly after a few minutes of silence.

"I've got a team reading through all of Mr Harper's paperwork for mentions of them. They've picked up three women so far, they seem to be localised to Miami so I'm confident we can locate and free all of them."

"That's great." Ryan replied, his mouth forming a sad smile.

"I should be going now." Horatio said suddenly, looking down at his watch.

"Oh . . . sure." Ryan murmured, once again having no idea what was going on inside his boss' head. _Is he mad at me? I did leave Natalia . . . put everyone's life at risk to come and find me. Does he regret sending me? . . . Am I not good enough? _Ryan's last though hit him the hardest as it was fairly recurring, no matter how hard he strived to be like Eric in Horatio's eyes, he always seemed to fall short.

Horatio made his way silently to the door, Ryan watching him with hurt eyes. As Horatio's hand grasped the door handle he turned back to face Ryan, though his head remained bowed.

"Mr Wolfe . . . I'm sorry for putting you through this . . . I'm glad you're okay." He said quietly.

A smile lit up Ryan's face, for once he knew where he stood with Horatio.

XXX

Alexx watched Horatio leave Ryan's room, confident he had said what he needed to in order to relieve some of his guilt and reassure Ryan. She smiled at Horatio's obliviousness to the huge amount of respect his team had for him.

"Honey if you wanted to speak to Ryan you should probably go soon. Isn't his family due to arrive soon?" Alexx chided Natalia, who was half asleep and sprawled out over the now empty seating area outside Ryan's room.

"Mhm." Natalia mumbled, rubbing her eyes tiredly and forcing herself up.

Alexx watched fondly, hoping against hope that maybe – finally the two could admit their feelings for each other.

XXX

"Nat." A huge smile broke across Ryan's pale face as the beautiful brunette carefully closed the door behind her. Her eyes looked tired but Ryan could see them light up as she gazed across at him.

"Hey you." She whispered.

"Thanks for . . . staying here all day with me . . ." He said, trying to inject all of his love for this woman into those few words.

"Anytime." She replied, her voice still a whisper as if she were afraid to speak any louder.

"Alexx said my mom and dad are on their way, and my brother." Ryan commented, trying to make small talk when Natalia seemed unwilling to speak.

"Yeah they are . . ." _Why is he being so casual? He told me he loved me a few hours ago, am I supposed to just pretend it never happened?_ Natalia shrieked internally.

"Is everything okay?" Ryan asked carefully, noticing Natalia detachment from the conversation.

_You tell me!_ She thought. "Ryan, uh, I . . . earlier you said . . ." She replied with instead, unable to phrase the question she really wanted to ask.

"Sorry?" Ryan's hazel eyes gazed intently at her in confusion as he tried to understand her.

Natalia sighed. "You said you . . . loved . . . me." She said in a small voice, suddenly terrified she had imagined the whole conversation.

"I did?" Ryan asked in astonishment, unable to find another more eloquent response. Natalia's eyes immediately dropped to the ground and Ryan knew he had said the wrong thing.

* * *

><p>Sorry guys . . . I didn't mean this to end on a cliffy as much as it did, but it just seemed like a good place to finish xD Mwahahaha :3<p>

I'm pleased with how the Ryan/Horatio scene turned out too :D

One more thing, my beta said it seems like I'm dragging it out a bit now, which I kinda agree with. So I'm thinking I might wrap this up fairly soon and do a few other bits I have in my head (like the promised sequal to 'Just Say Yes') . . . and then embark on a semi-sequel multi chap for DM. Am interested to hear people's opinions :D You guys ROCK!


	27. Chapter 27

Right guys, officially the last chapter of Desperate Measures, I have much to say, but I'll add it at the end. Thanks for sticking with me!

* * *

><p><em>"You said you . . . loved . . . me."<em>

_ "I did?"_

For Natalia time seemed to stand still as she tried to comprehend the words Ryan had just spoken. He had definitely said it, Natalia thought defiantly; there was no way she had managed to make up something which seemed so real. Her eyes remained fixed on the hospital tiles beneath her as she tried to work out a reasonable explanation for why Ryan had denied all knowledge of their earlier conversation.

Sure Ryan was sometimes rude and snarky, but to be so cruel as to lie about something like that just to hurt her? No that was definitely not something Ryan would do.

A whole host of possible explanations flew through Natalia's mind, but all were dismissed almost immediately. In the end Natalia could find only one plausible reason. Ryan had forgotten.

Tears gathered on the tips of her thick eyelashes as she wondered how the words which had meant so much to her, had been so easily forgotten by Ryan. _Did he even mean them at all? _She wondered, her tears slowly beginning their descent down her smooth caramel cheeks.

Her eyes flickered up to Ryan, he was gazing at her intently, an unreadable expression plastered over his wan, tired looking face. As he noticed Natalia face tilt upwards slightly to meet his, he averted his eyes.

Natalia sighed, her tears becoming those of anger. She had just told Ryan he said he loved her, and he replied 'I did?' _What kind of reply is that anyway?_ She thought heatedly, _I deserve something more than that! Even if it isn't what I want to hear!_

"Damn it Ryan, say something!" She said in a dangerous voice.

Ryan's eyebrows raised in shock at Natalia's tone. "I . . . uh Nat . . ." he mumbled, "I can't . . .can't remem-"

"YOU CAN'T REMEMBER?" Natalia screamed unexpectedly as all of her fear, worry and lack of sleep from the past day seemed to express itself in her venomous words.

Ryan looked stricken and his already deathly pace face turned whiter. "No," he whispered in a barely audible voice, "but that doesn't mean it isn't true."

"IT ISN'T –" Natalia began heatedly, before her mind caught up with her words, "wait what?" She asked, sounding stunned.

"I do love you . . . Natalia . . . I love you." Ryan said, his voice growing stronger in his determination.

Natalia's eyes widened and her teeth found her lower lip. Suddenly Ryan had admitted to her what she had been so sure she wanted to hear . . . but now? Now Natalia didn't know what she wanted.

"Ryan I . . ." She murmured hesitantly.

"You what?" Ryan's eyes were blazing with love and hope and he spoke hurriedly.

Natalia squeezed shut her eyes, hoping to avoid seeing the excitement which Ryan wore across his face. _How can you do this too him? It'll crush him._

"I . . . I love you too . . ." she choked a bit as Ryan's boyish features lit up even more, "but . . ." she continued in an anguished voice, watching that tiny spark of doubt settle in Ryan's eyes, dimming them ever so slightly.

"But what . . .?" He asked, sounding confused and sad, almost as if he knew exactly how she was going to reply.

_Don't do this Nat, you'll break his heart._ Natalia pleaded with herself, shaking her head rapidly.

"Natalia . . . what's the matter?" Ryan tried again in the same distressed voice.

"I just think . . . after everything that's happened . . . today and yesterday . . . maybe now isn't the best . . . time . . . to start a . . . relationship." Natalia sobbed through her words as Ryan's hope died slowly in his eyes.

"But everything's okay Nat, it's over." He tried to argue, knowing it was useless, that Natalia's mind was already made up.

Natalia took a long look at Ryan's weary face, he looked like she had just shattered his heart into a million pieces. "It was too much for me Ry . . . after the year we've had, I just need to adjust. Ryan you have to understand I thought I'd lost you, after Jesse I couldn't survive losing another friend . . ." She spoke calmly but tears fell steadily from her face onto the floor.

Ryan nodded, if not in acceptance, at least in understanding; and he opened his arms. Natalia flew into them (being careful to stay away from his injured shoulder) and buried her head in his neck.

"I'm so sorry Ryan. I'm so sorry." She cried over and over again as Ryan held her. Natalia wanted to look up to see how he was but in truth she was terrified to see the crushing disappointment which lay over his face, it was too much for her to bear.

Ryan, for his part, let his tears roll silently down his face. The feeling of losing something he thought he had never really had was no easier than losing it had he known he had it always before.

"Maybe later . . . ?" He whispered after what felt like a lifetime of tears, a shred of hope which refused to be extinguished carried in his voice.

Natalia looked up at Ryan's tear stained face, her heart seeming to break all over again. _How can you hurt this man anymore? When you love him so much how can you lie to him after what you've already said? Sure it's been a hard year, but you're going to get over it Nat, then what are you going to hide behind? _She demanded of herself.

Natalia took a deep shaky breath and nodded. "I'd like that." She whispered, clinging tightly to Ryan's body and praying the decision to give this man her heart was the right one.

Ryan lightly kissed her forehead. "Good, I'd like that too."

* * *

><p>Okay, I must admit I'm not happy about the ending, but it seemed then only way (to me) to end it. Yes there will probably be a sequel, I just need to work on the logistics of it. And yes it will be more RaiNy and hopefully will end happily for our favourite couple!<p>

I have many many many thank you's to give . . .

Firstly my beta, who doesn't have an account so I'll dub him **Neutrino**, who has ALWAYS (well nearly) beta'd every single chapter immediately after it was written no matter where he was and what he was doing, you're ace!

Thank you to all the wonderful people at CSI: Miami, although you may not make the plots/pairing we wanna see, you've got a whole host of talent and given us some amazing charachters to play around with!

Thank you to **bebobnidan** who has given me a stack of ideas and listened to my rants every time I've been cross with this fic xD

And lastly and definitely most importantly, thank you to **all** who have read/reviewed/favourited. I would probably have finished this a long long time ago if you guys hadn't been so great and encouraging!

Which wraps up nicely with . . . I have a tonne of ideas and an equal tonne of revision, so I'll try my hardest to get some things posted, but it's gonna be pretty dry 'til after my exams ):

(If you need any more incentive to review, it's my 18th in two days :3)


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